I went to Georgia Technical Institute of Technology for college.  It was there, getting a degree in computer science, that I was able to fully flesh out and complete my training as a true nerd.

I learned lots of things there.  Like how to play Super Smash Brothers, in what ways Windows machines actually have it better than Macs, and how to deal with the daily affront of patchy-bearded unwashed masses in a small computer lab.  Needless to say, I have fond memories of my time there.  Smelly CS nerds aside.

I explain this to you to give proper background on what’s coming up next:

Behold, my entry for Delicious Delicious Delicious’s Re-Inventing the Lamington 2011 contest: The n00bington!

The n00bington is my tiny tribute to the world I left when I graduated college; it’s a mishmash of food that reminds me of staying up til 7am in a computer lab finishing a programming project and the people I stayed up with.  I promise, nothing in the world is funner than Chuck Norris jokes at 3 in the morning after imbibing copious amounts of caffeine and pizza (Chuck Norris can divide by zero, hur hur hur!).  Ahh, I’m getting heart burn just thinking about it…

Within the n00bington lies the 3 essential food groups for all nerds and n00bs alike: candy, salty snacks, and soda.  Basically, anything you can find in a vending machine.

With this theme in mind I was able to determine exactly what would go into my lamington re-creation.

The n00bington’s base is the standard recipe recommended by Mr. P, with the addition of M&Ms.  Unfortunately they all sank to the bottom (here, the top) of the cake, so they’re not evenly dispersed as I’d hoped they would be.  Luckily you can still taste them.

The frosting is a special buttercream Mountain Dew.  I was pretty impressed to be honest; it really does have a hint of Mountain Dew in it!  As you can see from the pictures, I naturally went with Throwback.  Only the best of ingredients for my recipes.  A dash of green food coloring gave it a slight Mountain Dew-y color…next time I’ll probably try more of a yellow, though.

Finally, the Cheeto garnish sits atop the n00bington.  In memory of orange-covered fingers and keyboards everywhere, this was a perfect finishing touch.  Thanks to my good friend Steven for pointing this out to me.  This wouldn’t have felt finished otherwise!

I was actually convinced this was going to taste terrible, so was surprised when I found the flavors actually work well together!  It had a great sweet-and-salty flavoring going for it, and none of the flavors I chose were so overbearing as to outweigh any of the others.  Frankly, I’m impressed!  Unfortunately however, I think I’ve become too old to handle a food of this…caliber.  I’m pretty sure I’m working on an upset stomach as we speak. @.@

As far as the actual assembly goes, this wasn’t so bad; I think I’ve tackled other projects that have given me more headaches.  Although, the first pan of lamington base I pulled from the oven was utter fail.  I’d only greased the pan, not papered it, and so all the M&Ms that sunk to the bottom immediately fused themselves to the pan, giving me a bit of a pock-marked cake.  I was upset.

Luckily using parchment paper on the second attempt yielded a smooth and perfect base, edges aside.  Parchment paper, I love you dearly.  Also, bread knife – I love you too.

The Mountain Dew frosting took some experimentation too, but the cool thing about frosting is as long as you don’t go too wild and take your time, there’s not much you can do to it that adding a little extra confectioner’s sugar won’t fix.  I was pleased with the outcome, especially the fact that it actually ended up tasting that way I’d intended.

This was a fun experience and I’m glad I took a stab at it!  I think I need to learn a little more about how to get things suspended in your batter, so as always I know there’s always room for improvement.  At any rate, make sure you check out Delicious Delicious Delicious’s Re-Inventing the Lamington competition!  I’m sure there will be lots of nifty entries, just like last year.

n00bington Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 can Mountain Dew (Throwback preferred)
• 1 small package crunchy Cheetos
• 1 cup M&Ms
• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 cup butter
• green or yellow food coloring

Instructions:

1. For the lamington base, make Mr. P’s standard lamington base recipe and before baking, fold in the M&Ms.  I suggest using parchment paper so the M&Ms won’t stick to the pan.
2. For the frosting, beat together the butter and 2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar until creamy.
3. Mix in 2 tbsp of Mountain Dew.
4. Alternate mixing in small amounts of confectioner’s sugar and Mountain Dew until you are happy with the resulting taste (I probably added around 1/4 – 1/3 cup of Mountain Dew total).
5. Add several drops of desired food coloring and mix.
6. Cover cubes of M&M lamington base with Mountain Dew frosting and place on parchment paper (put the paper on something like a cutting board ahead of time so you can simply move the cutting board rather than juggling lamingtons).
7. Put frosting covered cubes in the freezer to solidify (my apartment was warm, so the frosting melted a bit).
8. Garnish with a crunchy Cheeto before serving.