• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a large bundt pan or tube pan. (Ours was 10 inches)
• In a medium to large glass measuring cup or microwave safe bowl, heat the whipping cream until very warm/hot *but not boiling.*(Heat in 30-40 second increments, adjusting time as needed until hot).
• Next, stir the cocoa powder into the heated heavy whipping cream to dissolve (you may prefer a whisk for this). Stir in the tablespoon of instant coffee/espresso granules (this is optional but deepens the chocolate flavor). Stir in the vanilla extract and peppermint extract. Set this mixture to the side to cool.
• Flour Mixture: In a separate bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine and set aside.
• Next, add the butter to the bowl of your mixer, mixing on medium until smooth.  Gradually add the sugar and  mix on medium until fluffy and lightened in color, this will take 4-5 minutes.
• Scrape the bowl down as needed. Mixing on low to medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing to blend after each addition.
• Time to put it all together! With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and the whipping cream/cocoa mixture.  Begin and end with the flour mixture. (We do three additions of the flour mixture and 2 additions of the whipping cream mixture.) **Mix just until combined. Then, scoop the batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a long wooden skewer or toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.  Ovens bake differently so check at around the 1 hour mark and adjust the baking time as needed. (Also, if your bundt pan is smaller than ours, the batter will be deeper and therefore take longer to bake through).
• Allow the pound cake to cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before turning out. Allow to cool before adding the glaze. (The chocolate glaze will become more thin if applied to a hot cake).

For the Chocolate 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. Allow it to sit for a minute or two and stir until smooth. If using peppermint extract, you can stir it in now as well. (Start with less extract than you think you'll need and increase to your liking.)
• This glaze will thicken as it sits and cools. Spoon over the cooled cake, or drizzle using a disposable piping bag (or ziplock bag) with the tip/corner snipped away.
• As a final step, we sprinkled the glaze with crushed candy canes.

Storage

• This cake is fine to sit at room temperature under a cake dome, airtight container, etc. for 2-3 days. After that, I would move to the refrigerator for freshness. **If refrigerated, the cake firms up (because butter firms up when chilled) and so you'll want to remove from the refrigerator a few hours before serving (or pop slices into the microwave to warm & soften).