Elvis Presley’s Whipping Cream Pound Cake

Apparently there was this Chinese bakery in Chinatown in Montreal in the 70’s called HoHo’s. My dad and his brothers were very fond of their pound cake which they describe as “very buttery… distinct flavor… greasy/oily… unlike any other pound cake…”. For as long as I can remember, my dad has been on some kind of personal quest to find a replication of this pound cake.

Searches on Google for this pound cake reveal nothing. I have absolutely nothing to go on other than his verbal description, which is not terribly helpful. I stumbled upon a recipe what is proclaimed to be Elvis Presley’s favorite pound cake on Obsessed With Baking and I have been wanting to try it ever since. (The recipe appears to originate from Epicurious).

Some of the instructions to making this cake are very unique. You have to bake it in a cold oven. The secret to this cake is actually in overmixing it; there are no leaveners in the recipe so the rising power comes from the many air bubbles created in the numerous mixing stages of the recipe. I was skeptical but I promised myself to follow the instructions exactly. It had so many positive reviews so I had faith.

I’m not a huge fan of pound cake. It was good; it had a sweet crispy exterior and a soft, light interior with a tight, dense crumb. It wasn’t HoHo’s pound cake but as far as they go it was a good cake. The flavor of the butter really comes through as well as a certain flavor of je-ne-sais-quoi from the whipping cream.

Elvis Presley’s Whipping Cream Pound Cake

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened, plus additional for buttering pan
• 3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) plus additional for dusting
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sugar
• 7 large eggs, at room temperature 30 minutes
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup heavy cream

Put oven rack in middle position, but do not preheat oven.

Generously butter a loaf pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess flour.

Sift together sifted flour (3 cups) and salt into a bowl. Repeat sifting into another bowl (flour will have been sifted 3 times total).

Beat together butter (2 sticks) and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or 6 to 8 minutes with a handheld mixer. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour, then all of cream, then remaining flour, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down side of bowl, then beat at medium-high speed 5 minutes. Batter will become creamier and satiny.

Spoon batter into pan and rap pan against work surface once or twice to eliminate air bubbles. Place pan in (cold) oven and turn oven temperature to 350°F. Bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in middle of cake comes out with a few crumbs adhering, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool cake in pan on a rack 30 minutes. Run a thin knife around inner and outer edges of cake, then invert rack over pan and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

I accidentally overfilled the loaf pan and much of the batter spilled over. It also made the cake harder to dislodge from the pan. Since the pan was so full, the cake was browning faster than it could bake, so I had to cover the top with aluminum foil… resulting in a large patch of the crust getting stuck to the foil! Oopsies! Next time I’ll make muffins and a loaf instead of trying to squeeze all of the batter into one loaf pan.

Making this cake also gave me the opportunity to try out my new matryoshka measuring cups!

Aren’t they adorable? Each half is a different cup measure. I love them! Thank you to C.C. for giving them to me for my birthday!