Preheat oven to 275° Grease and flour 2 9 X 5 X 3-inch loaf pans.

Put the chocolate, butter, and coffee in a heavy-bottomed pan of about 16-cup capacity. Place over low heat and stir almost constantly until the chocolate melts, then stir vigorously until the mixture is smooth and completely blended.

Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes, then beat in the bourbon, eggs, and vanilla.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt and sift them together. Add to the chocolate mixtrure and beat with a wooden spoon until well blended and smooth.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Before serving, combine the cream and vanilla and whip until it barely stands in peaks; it should be fluffy but thin enough to run down the sides of the cake when you place a spoonful on each serving.

at the venerable Union Hotel in Benicia, a small town at the mouth of the Sacramento Delta, is so good that it can make you cry. It is a dark, rich, moist loaf, quickly and easily mixed with a spoon in a saucepan - you do not need an electric beater. Sliced thickly, it requires no icing, just a spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream."