Dessert | The Foodies' Kitchen

Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake

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

Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake

Serves 10
Recipe from Saveur

Ingredients

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

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.

11:34 AM
1 Comment
- Bake, Dessert, elvis presley, favorite, pound cake
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Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

The original recipe for these cookies calls for freeze dried strawberries. Where in the world will I find those?! I wanted to try the combination anyway, so I went ahead with fresh strawberries, knowing that using fresh fruit would probably result in a moister cookie. The verdict is… This cookie is great tasting! The tartness of the strawberries combined with the semi sweet chocolate from the cookies is amazing, BUT when you make them, make sure to eat them right away.

Because we’re using fresh fruit in this recipe, the cookie gets soft after a few hours. So, try them out if you can get your family to eat them in one afternoon! You can use half a recipe so you only get between 18 to 24 cookies.

As a variation, I think using dried fruits would be an interesting idea. The obvious choice would be dried cherries, or cranberries. But how would adding some dried apricots taste? I’ll definitely try it out and report back to you!

Helga

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe adapted from Baking Bites

Yields: 3-4 dozen cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp honey
2 cups strawberries, diced
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In another large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs in one at a time and beat until fully incorporated. Stir in vanilla and honey.
Gradually blend in dry ingredients, followed by strawberries and chocolate chips (don’t worry about breaking up the strawberries; stir them vigorously!).
Drop tablespoonfuls (1-inch balls) of dough onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 10-11 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown and are set. Bake an extra minute or two for a crisper cookie. (recommended!)
Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

12:24 PM
2 Comments
- Bake, chocolate chip cookies, Cookie, Dessert, strawberries
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Arborio Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

Even though the holidays are over, a chill is still in the air and we all crave comforting food. This recipe is a version of rice pudding, except instead of using regular rice I used arborio rice, which you use to make risotto. The starch from this variety gives the rice pudding an extra creaminess. I also used a mixture of different types of milk: regular, evaporated, condensed and coconut milk. The first three are from a recipe Mariano’s grandmother makes for her infamous rice pudding and his family can eat bucketfuls of it.
I added coconut milk out of curiosity. The result is a smooth, rich and creamy rice pudding with a hint of nutty coconut flavor.

When you make rice pudding, you combine rice with milk and you stir and add more milk as necessary until the rice is tender and the mixture reaches the desired thickness. At least, that’s the method I know. For this recipe I combined this procedure and the procedure you use to make risotto, meaning I let the milk get consumed and I continued adding more to cook.

If you feel the mixture is too thick, just add more milk (the regular type). Sugar is also something to consider. Personally, I prefer a creamy and smooth rice pudding that is not too sweet. This is where you can adjust the amount of sugar you put it. The recipe calls for 6 tablespoons and 1/2 can of condensed milk. You can omit the sugar altogether if you think the sweetness from the condensed milk is enough, or use half of it. To be honest, I did find that 6 tablespoons was a bit too sweet, for my taste.

~Helga

Arborio Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

A The Foodies’ Kitchen Original Recipe
Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 cup Arborio rice
2 1/2 cups whole milk + more during cooking (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 can coconut milk
1 cinnamon stick

Procedure:

In a large pot, mix the Arborio rice, cinnamon, sugar, and whole milk. Cook (uncovered) over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring until the milk starts to evaporate.
Meanwhile, in another pot mix the rest of the ingredients (condensed, evaporated and coconut milk), and bring them to a simmer. Once the 15 minutes have passed, incorporate this mixture into the pot with the Arborio rice,remove the cinnamon stick and continue cooking over medium heat for another 10 min, stirring. At this point, you can adjust the amount of sugar you want to put it, depending on your taste.
Now, lower the heat to low, and continue cooking for another 25-30 minutes. Keep stirring! You need to add a little more milk, and I didn’t measure this part! when I thought it was starting to get too thick, I just added a few extra slushes of milk as the cooking process went on (you’ll probably add about 1 1/2 extra cups of milk) . I didn’t want to be too thick, remember that it will get thicker as it cools.
Check to see if the rice is cooked through, we don’t want any al dente qualities here. If you need a few minutes more, 5 or so, just keep adding a little bit more milk.