Heat the oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour every nook and cranny in both halves of your lamb mold.
In a large bowl combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil, buttermilk, coffee and vanilla.
Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until combined.
Place the base of the lamb mold face side down on a baking tray or cookie sheet. The face is the base. The backside is the lid.
Fill the base of the lamb mold completely with cake batter. You will use between 3-4 cups of the batter and have 2-3 cups remaining. Set the remainder aside for 5-6 cupcakes, which can be baked for 17-20 minutes.
Make sure the ears have batter in them.
Snip a wooden coffee stirrer in half with shears or gather 3-4 sturdy toothpicks.
Place the stirrer sticks or toothpicks in a "cross" pattern spanning the ears and head/neck of the lamb, and, press the sticks or toothpicks into the batter so that they are covered with batter. This will ensure that the lamb's ears and head won't pop off when you remove it from the pan or try to ice it. This is VERY IMPORTANT when you are using moist, flavourful cake as opposed to pound cake!
Place the lid or backside of the lamb on top of the filled face mold. DO NOT fill this second side of the cake mold. Just place it on top. The cake will rise!
Use string or twine to secure the molds together.
Bake the lamb for 42 minutes. If your mold has "holes" in the backside, you can test for doneness with a long toothpick or skewer. If your mold does not have "holes" [mine does not], you can cool the cake for 10-15 minutes [as in the next step] before removing the backside and testing for doneness. If it's slightly undercooked, the lid can be left off, and the cake can go back in the oven for 5-10 minutes or as needed.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow the cake to cool inside the mold for 10-15 minutes.
Snip the twine and carefully remove the lid or backside of the lamb mold.
Allow the lamb to cool in the base of the pan for another 20 minutes.
Use a knife to loosen the lamb from the mold all along its outline.
Reverse the lamb onto a tray and allow it to cool completely, face up.
Scrape the underside of the lamb with a knife so that there is no line or ridge which will make your lamb wobble when you stand it up.
Once the lamb has cooled completely, you may wrap it in plastic, and then foil, and place it in a freezer bag until you are ready to defrost and ice it.
