Elvis Presley's Favorite Cake Didn't Skimp On The Ingredients

Elvis Presley didn't do anything small. His legend and legacy loom large in pop culture even today, thanks to his outsized personality, captivating stage presence, expansive music catalog, and, most interestingly, his appetite. Much has been written about Presley's food preferences, and part of what made people love the King so much was the fact that many of his favorite foods had humble Southern roots but were lavish in their proportions, making them still relatable to everyday people. 

A great deal of the foods associated with Elvis involved loads of butter and his favorite pound cake recipe was no exception. In this particularly rich recipe for pound cake, you can find cups of butter, heavy cream, and sugar, plus a whopping 7 eggs! This excess epitomizes Elvis' "more is more" approach to food, much like his love of gooey banana pudding, fluffy biscuits, or even the Fool's Gold Loaf sandwich, a dish that featured an astounding full loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. Even though all of these foods were outrageously over the top in their sheer volume of ingredients, they still contained traditional items that people could find in their own pantries. 

The classic pound cake recipe got its name from the proportions of its ingredients: a pound each of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. While there's still plenty of butter and sugar to be found in the recipe favored by Elvis, the richness factor is upped with the addition of a cup of heavy cream. Made for him throughout his life by his longtime friend Janelle McComb, the dense cake also contained seven eggs, an ingredient that would contribute even more decadent goodness thanks to the golden egg yolks. Why did Elvis go so big and bold with his dining? According to what his faithful household cook Mary Jenkins Langston shared with the New York Times, "he said the only thing in life he got any enjoyment out of was eating." 

And eat he did. Elvis is still the name that comes to mind if you mention a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich anywhere around the world. McComb would bake two batches of her famous "Taking Care of Elvis" pound cake and bring them to Graceland every Christmas. Naturally, it was said that he could eat an entire loaf all on his own. Perhaps you can play your part in keeping the Elvis spirit alive by baking your own favorite pound cake recipe, sharing it with some friends, and spinning some Elvis records.