Buttery pound cake of the American South finds a friend in the ancient Japanese plum. The wine of the revered Japanese plum adds a touch of tart to the traditional Southern pound cake.
Adapted from The Southern Cake Book’s Amaretto-Almond Pound Cake recipe on page 217.
Set your oven to 325 degrees. Rub lots of butter or coconut oil in a 10” (12 cup) bundt pan to ensure release of the cake after baking. Sprinkle the walnuts onto the bottom of the pan.
Whip together the butter and Neufchâtel in the bowl of a kitchen stand mixer. In a steady stream add the sugar. Let the sugar, butter and Neufchâtel dance into fluffiness for about 5 minutes. On low speed, stir in the Japanese plum wine, vanilla extract and drops of rose food coloring. Slowly add the flour. Add the eggs one at a time. Pour the smooth batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a bamboo skewer or knife inserted in the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before flipping the bundt pan onto a plate.
Ninja Note: Oh, so gently insert a frosting spatula or thin knife along the edges of the bundt pan to encourage an easy release of cake.
Optional Japanese Plum Wine Glaze:
In a saucepan, over a medium-low flame, bring to boil: ¾ cup sugar, ¼ cup Japanese plum wine, 2 tablespoons water and drops of rose food coloring. Be sure to continually keep stirring. (Cleaning burnt sugar in saucepans is no fun!) Let the mixture reduce. The process should take 3 to 5 minutes. Drizzle the hot glaze over the cooled cake.
You can also spread a bit of the glaze on the bottom of the cake while still hot and in the pan. Once the cake is cooled and the glaze is set, it creates an extra sugary wine crunch on the bottom of the cake.