• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a tube pan or bundt pan. (This recipe makes about 9.5 cups of batter.) See notes.
• Add dry ingredients to the bowl of your mixer and mix on low speed for one minute to blend (sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt). (You could whisk by hand if you prefer for this step).
• With the mixer on low speed, add butter a few slices at a time and mix until it reaches a crumbly, sandy texture from the butter coating the dry ingredients. Don't mix beyond this sandy consistency. (You've mixed too long if it begins to resemble a ball of dough.)
• Next, add the eggs, one at a time, mixing at low to medium speed after each until blended. The mixture will become thick.
• In another bowl, stir to combine the ricotta cheese, milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. This is all of your wet ingredients except for the coffee, it will be added to the batter later.
• Set a timer for 1 ½ minutes and slowly add the ricotta cheese mixture. Begin on low speed and increase to medium once you've finished pouring.
• Next, with the mixer on low speed, slowly add the cup of hot coffee to the batter and mix for about 30 seconds until well blended. The batter will become very thin.
• This recipe makes about 9 ½ cups of batter. Pour into the prepared bundt pan or tube pan and bake. Bake for about 50-60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached. Baking times may vary based on your pan, oven, etc. Start checking for doneness as the 50 minute mark approaches and adjust time if needed.

For the Glaze

• Combine the 4 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate and 3 oz. heavy cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave in small increments (30 seconds or less), stirring occasionally in between, until the chocolate is almost completely melted.
• Then, allow to sit a minute or two and gently stir to melt any remaining pieces of chocolate. Cool the ganache to desired consistency for dripping. We like to apply the drip using a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away.

Decorating the Cake

• Once the cake has cooled, apply chocolate glaze to the cake. You can do this by spooning it over the cake, or for more control, use a piping bag with the tip snipped away, or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped away.
• This cake can sit at room temperature for 2-3 days under a cake dome or airtight container. If you prefer to refrigerate, you will want to remove from the refrigerator a couple of hours before serving so that the cake has a chnace to warm and soften.