Love Bait (Chocolate) Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Normally I'm not the sort to insinuate that a one can cook their way into a relationship, but this bundt is far from the creamed jello molds of a fifties edition "How To Catch a Man" home-ec book. It's bold, naughty, decadent, sinfully moist and scarcely able to hold in its bountiful crumb (see above evidence). The batter is dominated by high-quality dark chocolate, laced with espresso and tenderized by a hearty dose of buttermilk. A hint of bitterness in the ganache glaze perfectly contradicts the sweet cake, and while this chocolate bomb is a strong independent woman who needs nothing to thrive; some real whipped cream and a few ripe raspberries certainly don't hurt. 

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 3 ounces (85 grams) high quality dark chocolate (65-72%)
• 1.5 cups strong, hot coffee
• 2.5 (500g) Sugar
• 2.5 cups (315g) Cake Flour*
• 1.5 cups (130g) high quality, unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 large eggs (at room temp)*
• 3/4 cup neutral oil (Grapeseed, Canola, Vegetable)
• 1.5 cups Buttermilk
• 2 tsp vanilla 

For the Ganache Glaze

• 3oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed

Method

1. Preheat oven to 300°F. and prep your pan with butter or cooking spray and a light dusting of flour. (This is one sticky cake, so get it good and greased)
2. Finely chop chocolate, set in a small bowl and pour the hot coffee on top. Let mixture stand, whisking occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.
3. In a large bowl, sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the eggs on medium-high until they go a darker yellow and thicken slightly (about 3 minutes).
5. Add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs one by one, beating until incorporated.
6. Add your dry mixture to the wet ingredients in two rounds, stirring until the clumps have only just disappeared. Be v. chill about this and don't over mix or you'll get tough cake!
7. Pour gently into your prepped bundt pan and toss that puppy in the oven for 60-70 minutes (start testing at 55) or until a cake tester/toothpick/sharp knife comes out clean. 
8. Once cake has cooled, set about making your glaze. Get your heavy cream nice and hot on the stove top and pour it over the 3oz of bittersweet chocolate. Give it a moment to do its melting and then start to whisk until all the chocolate has melted and the mixtures' gone a lovely homogeneous brown. Add the vanilla and your cubes of butter and continue stirring until butter is melted and the ganache is shiny and smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes (you want it thickened but still warm enough to pour).
9. Set your cooled cake on a cooling rack (so that the runoff ganache can drip off instead of puddling around the edges of the cake). Then, take a ladle (or large spoon) full of the ganache and move it slowly around the center line of the cake ring. As for those perfect streaks, the cake will do all the work for you--so long as you keep your pour steady, the ganache will naturally flood down the valleys in the sides of the cake, forming a lovely uniform pattern.  

Notes

• Cake will keep for 2-3 days (well covered of course)
• Though it produces a more tender crumb, if you don't have cake flour, you can definitely substitute sifted AP flour. It will still be delicious. 
• If you don't have an electric mixer, you can absolutely do the whisking of the eggs + wet ingredients with a little elbow grease, the old fashioned way.
• This batter would work just as well for a two-layer (9inch round) cake with the filling and frosting of your choice.