Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake

Helga Glaesel de BlandingApril 12, 2013

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

I hosted a last minute family get together a few weeks ago, Kristen and I decided that we wanted to bake something for her grandparents and I had pound cake in mind since it’s easy to bake and it’s the perfect coffee cake. I knew we had a pound cake recipe at Foodies’ already, but I wanted to try a different recipe so I hit google and started to browse through the results. I found recipes from sites I know and trust such as Pioneer Woman or Joy the Baker, but when I saw Elvis Presley’s favorite pound cake recipe I knew the search was over. How could I not want to try The King’s favorite pound cake!

Upon reading about the recipe from Saveur, I found out that one of Elvis’s favorite sweets was the pound cake made by his childhood friend Janelle McComb who shared the recipe on the 10th anniversary of his death. She would bake two loaves for Christmas and bring them to Graceland, Elvis could eat one all by himself!

As for the cake itself, it is sweet, and dense. There are two things that really make this cake what it is. One of them, is the added cream and the other is beating it for 5 minutes. We’re always telling you not to over beat batters for baking, as this does affect the consistency. This time, we want you to beat! Also, if you have two loaf pans, use them. I used a single bundt cake pan and it almost overflowed out of my pan.

This cake was a hit with my family, and even more so when I shared the story behind the recipe, my mother in law was especially curious to try Elvis’s favorite pound cake recipe. She is a true fan… she has all his records and her coffee mug has Elvis on it.
Enjoy it, and tell the story!

Helga

Upgraded Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake with Basil and Orange Sugar

Serves 10
Recipe adapted from Saveur and Food52/Thalia Ho

Ingredients, for the cake:
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
3 cups cake flour, sifted, plus more for pans*
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
¾ tsp. kosher salt
7 eggs
1 cup heavy cream

Ingredients, for the Orange Basil Sugar:
½ cup of sugar
¼ cup of basil
zest of 1 orange

Procedure:

Heat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9″x 5″x 2″ loaf pans; set aside.
Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a bowl on medium-high speed of a hand mixer until pale and fluffy, about 6 minutes.
Add eggs one at time, beating well after each, until smooth.
Add flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with flour, beating until smooth.
Increase speed to high; beat batter until smooth and light, about 5 minutes.
Divide batter between prepared pans, and smooth tops with a rubber spatula; bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a couple crumbs adhering to it, about 1 hour, 15 minutes.
Let cool 30 minutes, and then unmold onto a cooling rack; let cool completely before slicing and serving.
For the basil sugar, add ½ cup of sugar, ¼ cup of basil leafs and the zest of 1 orange. Pulse until the basil is completely combined with the sugar. When serving the poundcake, liberally sprinkle sugar on top of each slice.

Notes:

For the cake flour, you can use 3 cups of all-purpose flour, remove 6 tablespoons of flour and add 6 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift 4 times, and it’s ready to use.
The basil sugar is best kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

Have you made this recipe?

Have you made this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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