triple chocolate bundt cake & a birthday banner

Last week I baked a birthday cake for a co-worker who is a lover of all things chocolate.  I couldn't resist making a triple chocolate bundt cake, and I have to say it turned out rather delicious.  The chocolate chips inside and the ganache poured over the top were an inspired idea that gave the moist cake surprise hit of extra flavor.  To decorate, I designed and cut a 'Happy Birthday' cake banner out of velum paper and tied on a little baking twine for fun.  I even added a few roses from our garden for the photos.  See below for my adapted recipe, and if you're going to try it out for yourself, make sure to use high quality chocolate- it really made all the difference.

 {images © birthday girl 2011}

Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake

adapted from Food and Wine

Ingredients

cooking spray

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips {I used Ghiardelli}

3/4 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup strong-brewed coffee

1 cup buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. In a small saucepan, melt 2 ounces of the chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly. Scrape the chocolate into a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Whisk in the oil and sugar until smooth, then whisk in the egg.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture along with 1/2 cup of the coffee and 1/2 cup of the buttermilk; whisk until smooth. Add the remaining dry ingredients, coffee and buttermilk and whisk until smooth.  If desired, add about 1/2 remaining bag of chocolate chips to batter just before pouring into pan.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let the cake cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn it out and let cool completely.

4. While cake cools, bring remaining chocolate chips to a boil.  Once chocolate begins to melt, whisk in 1 tbsp of vegetable oil if needed for pourable consistency. Whisk until smooth. Let the ganache glaze cool until thick but still pourable, about 5 minutes.

5. Pour the ganache over the cooled cake. Let the cake stand until the glaze is set, at least 30 minutes, before serving.