Name: Chocolate Bundt Cake
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h 15 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate; 4 ounces (1 stick) butter (plus more for greasing the pan); 1 3/4 cups of strong coffee; 1/4 cup bourbon whisky (if skipping the whisky, just use more coffee); 3/4 teaspoon of salt (if using salted butter, reduce to 1/8 teaspoon of salt); 2 cups all purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 2 eggs; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 3 Tbsp cocoa for dusting the bundt pan; 1 Tbsp powdered sugar for dusting the cake (optional)

1 Preheat the oven to 275°F. Grease inside of a 2-quart Bundt pan with a thin layer of butter. Sprinkle cocoa over the butter and tap out the excess. Set aside.

2 Place a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with an inch or two of water, making sure that the water is not touching the bottom of the metal bowl. Place the chocolate, butter, coffee, bourbon, and salt in the metal bowl. Heat the saucepan to a low simmer. (You are creating a double boiler to gently melt the chocolate mixture.) Stir occasionally as the chocolate melts. Once the mixture is melted and smooth, remove the bowl from heat and let sit to cool for 15 minutes (you can chill it in the refrigerator if you want to speed up this process.)

3 In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour and baking soda.

4 In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla together until light and foamy (you can use a hand mixer for this or a stand mixer).

5 Once the chocolate mixture has cooled sufficiently, slowly whisk it into the egg-sugar mixture. Then, stir in the flour mixture, a third at a time. Whisk until smooth. (The batter will be rather liquidy. Don't worry about it.)

6 Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Place on the middle rack of the preheated oven. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

7 Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then gently remove from the pan and cool on a rack until completely cooled to room temperature.

8 Transfer cake to a serving platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if using. Slice with a serrated bread knife to serve. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.