Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line your cake pan with parchment paper. Either use a box of chocolate cake mix according to the package instructions then add black food coloring or follow the steps below.

In a large bowl, sift together ¾ cups of all-purpose flour, ¾ cup of granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons of black dark chocolate cocoa powder, ¾ tsp of baking powder, 3/4 tsp of baking soda, and 1/2 tsp of salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 large eggs, 2 tbs of vegetable oil, 6 tbs of buttermilk, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract until blended.

Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Gradually introduce the hot water into the mixture while stirring. The batter will have a thin consistency, but that's perfectly fine. Pour the batter into one 9 inch cake pan.

Bake your cakes at 350°F (180°C) for 25-32 minutes.

You’re going to need a small amount of white and orange frosting for this penguin cake, which you’ll make first. Then you’ll add cocoa powder to the rest of your frosting to turn it black.

Mix 2 cups of room temperature unsalted butter, 5 cups of powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, 2 tsp of vanilla and ⅓ cup of milk or heavy cream in a large mixing bowl.

Mix your butter first, to soften it and then add the other ingredients. Blend them with a stand mixer or hand mixer on a low speed until the ingredients start incorporating then switch to a high speed. If your frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If your frosting is too hard and clumped, try adding more milk.

Remove a quarter cup of this white frosting from the large mixing bowl and set it aside in a small bowl.

To make black frosting without food coloring, use dark black cocoa powder. Add ⅔ cup of black cocoa powder to your white frosting and mix it thoroughly.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then, remove it from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you're making your cake in advance, once it's room temperature, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the fridge or freezer.

Stack Cakes

Take your cooled 9 inch round cake and cut it in half with a large sharp knife to give you two semi-circles. Add frosting to one semi-circle and stack the second on top so you have a two-layer cake.

Add a layer of frosting to the flat edge of the double-layer cake to make it sturdy and then stand it on that edge on top of a cake board or flat serving plate.

Crumb Coat

Frost the entire outside of the cake with a crumb coat of black frosting and an offset spatula. This layer traps in any crumbs and will give you a smoother, more even surface to decorate on. I skipped the crumb coat and my cake turned out fine, but if you’re a beginner it may be helpful.

Outline The Details

Use a toothpick to score the face of the penguin cake so you know which areas you will be frosting with black and white. Lightly draw in a large rounded ‘m’ shape onto the front of the cake.

Decorate with Black Frosting

Use your #1M large open star frosting tip and a piping bag of black frosting to cover the back of the cake and the narrow sides as well as the top of the cake.

Decorate With White Frosting

Use your #21 small open star piping tip and a piping bag of white icing to outline the details on the front of the cake you scored with the toothpick so you don’t accidentally cover them. Once you've outlined the large 'm' shape in white buttercream frosting, fill it in completely with white stars.

Final Touches

Finish adding black frosting to the front of the penguin’s cake with your large open star tip. Take a spoonful of your remaining white frosting and color it orange with food coloring. Put it in a piping bag and cut off a very small part of the piping bag tip. To make the penguin's beak, use this orange frosting to pipe small circles of orange frosting into an orange triangle in the middle of the bottom edge of the penguin’s face.

​To make the penguin's eyes, put a spoonful of your remaining black frosting in a piping bag and cut the very tip off the piping bag, draw two curved lines on the penguin's face to make the eyes.