In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, dissolve the instant coffee in the hot water. Then add the cocoa powder and vanilla, whisk together, then pour into the dry mixture. Add the vegetable oil, chocolate chips and vinegar, and mix until everything is well combined.

Grease a muffin pan with oil, then fill with half of the cake mix. Pour the remainder of the mix into a greased 9-inch cake mold, and bake the cake at 375F (190C) for 30-35 minutes, and bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes (my oven is very slow, so you might have you adjust the time on the cupcakes). Allow the cakes to fully cool before decorating them.

Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl until it’s light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, and mix together. Add the confectioner’s sugar 1 cup at a time, beating with each addition.

Place about 1/5 of the buttercream into a separate bowl, and add the marshmallow fluff, or mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and strawberries. Mix well with a spatula. This will be used as the filling.

Melt the white and dark chocolate. Lay out a large sheet of parchment paper on a small tray, and with a small spoon, make two 2-inch wide circles and sixteen 1 cm-wide circles with the white chocolate. Then make two 1-inch wide circles and sixteen ½ cm-wide circles with the dark chocolate. Dye the remaining white chocolate pink, and make one 1-cm long oval and eight ½-cm long ovals out of the pink chocolate.

Place these in the freezer for 10 minutes to fully set.

For the cake, using a stencil (I used a small plate), cut the edges off the cake so that it is 6 inches in diameter. Be sure to save the scraps, and keep them as intact as possible.

For both the cake and the 8 cupcakes, slice each of them into 2 layers. Fill each cupcake and cake with enough filling to coat the surface of the layer without it squishing out of the cake. Replace the top layer to the cakes, then apply a crumb coat with the buttercream, by spreading a very thin layer all over the surface of the cakes.

With the scraps from the cake and the 4 remaining cupcakes, cut out the ears for the cats. Make sure that they are stable enough to stand up on their own. Stick the ears onto the cake and cupcakes, and apply a crumb coat as well. Place all of the cakes in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Fit a star-shaped piping tip onto a piping bag, and fill with the white buttercream. Pipe the buttercream to look like fur onto all of the cakes. If you would like the cats to be spotted or have brown fur, mix the cocoa powder into some of the buttercream in a separate bowl.

After you have finishing icing each cake, stick on the white cheeks, pink nose and black eyes. Place the flatter side of the chocolates face up, so that the cakes will have a cleaner look. Place the cakes in the freezer for another 5 minutes, and you’re done!