Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour, or spray with cooking spray, a bundt pan and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the hot water and cocoa.
1 c hot water, ¾ c cocoa
In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer, whisk together the sugar, oil and eggs.
2 c sugar, ⅔ c vegetable oil, 3 large eggs
Add in the sour cream, cherry juice, milk and vanilla and whisk well. Then add in the cocoa / water mixture and stir.
⅔ c sour cream, ½ c cherry juice, ¼ c milk, 2 tsp vanilla
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
2 ¾ c flour, 1 ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and stir just to incorporate.
Pour 1/3 of the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Place all of the maraschino cherries in a ring on top of the cake batter.
2 c maraschino cherries
Pour the remaining cake batter on top of the cherries. Bake in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
Once the cake has baked, remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature. While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate ganache.
To make the ganache, place the heavy cream into a heat safe bowl in the microwave for one minute. Pour the heated heavy cream over the chocolate chips and let set for 1 minute. Stir together until a smooth, homogeneous mixture has formed.
2 c chocolate chips, 1 ¼ c heavy cream
Once the cake has cooled, turn it out onto a cake stand or plate. Spoon or pour the ganache over the top of the cake and top with maraschino cherries if you so desire. Cake is now ready to slice and serve.
Shaved chocolate, a few candied cherries