In Honor of The King…Elvis, Clark, Thorin or

 

 

ME!!  I’m the Queen after all?!!

While wandering through the hidden paths of Pinterest last week, I discovered a pound cake…one that some say is the absolute BEST pound cake…one that some say was Elvis’ preferred cake…one that uses heavy cream…one the could very well have been Clark Gable’s favorite cake…had he known about it. Or it could have been a cake that The King Under the Mountain would have been proud to have eaten at his birthday party. Maybe not.

But I’m thinking that it well may be MY favorite pound cake.  Ever. Not kidding.  Well, right behind my Apricot Jam cake.  And the ever popular Chocolate Pound cake…haven’t put that one up yet.  Maybe tomorrow?

Anyway, this one is a keeper.  The texture is die for.  Really dense.  Really moist.  It would be perfect for a ball shaped cake pan or any cake that needs to be tough and sturdy. The buttery, rich taste literally slides over your taste buds! And moist.  Really moist.

Without further ado…If you haven’t heard of this cake yet much less tried it, get the mixer out, hunt up some butter…real butter and get that apron tied up.  It’s time to BAKE!!!

A Pound Cake Worthy of a King

3 cups sugar
1/2 lb butter, softened
7 eggs, room temperature
3 cups cake flour, sifted twice
1 cup whipping cream (heavy cream)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla

Set out the ingredients above so they’re room temp or close.

Grease and flour a bundt or angel food cake pan. Really, really grease the pan up so it doesn’t stick!

Spoon flour into your measuring cup. Sift the flour…CAKE flour. You could probably use all-purpose but the cake texture will suffer. And we don’t want suffering, sad cake texture. Right? Spoon up and measure another cup. Sift it. And one more time…

Now, sift it all again. You heard me. Go for it! I had to use my big tea strainer because I had NO idea where my flour sifter was. Can’t remember the last time I used one.

So now you have your 3 cups of sifted cake flour sitting nicely in a big bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar in the mixer till creamy.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one till combined.

Add half the flour to the sugar mixture, then half the whipping cream, blending at a slow speed until well combined. Add the rest of the flour, blend then add the rest of the cream. Combine well. Don’t overbeat at this point!

Add the vanilla, blend and get ready to dump it all into your greased pan.

Carefully spoon the batter into the pan, leveling out the top with your spatula.

This is the part that will puzzle you.

*Place into a COLD oven, set it to 350° and close the oven door. Set your timer for 55 minutes. I baked mine for 60 and could have just gone with 55 I think. Each oven is different so this may be an “experiment” for you this first time! When you slip a sharp knife into the middle of the top and it comes out clean, take that baby out and let it cool 10 mins or so on a rack.

 

Then invert the pan onto a rack and hopefully the cake will release on its own…without any help.

Let it cool. Or not. At this point, I had my knife ready to cut a big old hunk off and plop it into my plate. And eat it. Pronto!!! Oh my oh my, have mercy on me please!!! It. Was. GOOOOD!! And still warm, which is THE best way to eat any pound cake! Ask me how I know!

Oh…peaches and cream on the side makes this something right out the history books. Strawberries and cream work the same magic.

*If you’re wondering why the cold oven…my personal theory is this:
A lot of pound cake recipes I’ve used through the years will usually ask you to place in a hot oven…maybe around 400° and then after 15 minutes or so, reduce the heat to 350° and bake another 45 minutes. This does the same thing without having you do all that reducing and timing! During the preheat period, you’re getting a high heat fast and once it reaches the 350° mark, things steady off a bit. Does that make sense? Tell me it does cause I thought I was pretty brilliant figuring that one out. 😀

With the 3 cups of sugar, it’s pretty sweet but it gives it nice slightly crisp “crust”. I’m thinking about reducing the sugar next time to maybe 2 1/2 to see if it affects the texture. I’ll let you know.

In the meantime, enjoy The King’s cake. I enjoyed it so much, I had to quickly wrap it and get it in the freezer. Or the whole cake was going to disappear, with me being the main consumer. Not a good thing. At all.