Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°,F. Lightly grease a 10&rdquo, (12-cup) tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan. Using an electric mixer at medium-high speed, beat together to cream the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
2. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, Fustini&rsquo,s Espresso Balsamic, and water in a large mixing cup. Turn mixer on low, slowly pour in buttermilk mixture until combined, increasing speed to medium-low. Scrape down paddle and bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the cocoa and flour. Add flour mixture to butter/buttermilk mixture all at once. On low speed, beat until no white streaks remain, about one minute. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and beat briefly to make sure everything is fully combined.
4. Pour 1/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, top with cherries. Repeat with the remaining cherries and batter, creating three layers of batter, two layers of cherries. Bake the cake for about 75 to 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
5. Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let it rest for 15 minutes, then carefully turn it out of the pan onto the rack and let it cool completely for about 45 minutes. Glaze the cake with chocolate ganache or simply dust it with confectioners&rsquo, sugar, if desired.
6. Heat the cream and Fustini&rsquo,s Espresso Balsamic in a saucepan or in the microwave, until the mixture begins to steam. Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir &mdash, at first slowly, then more vigorously &mdash, until the chocolate is completely melted. If necessary, reheat very briefly to soften any remaining hard bits of chocolate. Use ganache while the chocolate is still warm, but has begun to thicken. Reheat if it thickens too much.