Elvis and Aunt Rose: Dueling Pound Cakes

I was craving chocolate this week, so I looked through my many, many cookbooks and found nothing chocolate that I wanted to make. I did find two pound cake recipes that looked good, so I figured I’d do a taste test: Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake vs. Aunt Rose’s Pound Cake, both from the Gourmet Today cookbook (but also available online). Elvis is the larger cake, Aunt Rose the smaller, below.

There are a few main differences between the recipes. For Elvis, you sift the flour three times, add salt and cream, and beat for an extra 5 minutes before baking. For Rose, you only sift once, add cream cheese instead of cream, and no extra beating. (Rose’s batter tasted better, hands down.)

Aside from the sifting (who would have thought I would willingly sift flour three times instead of just skipping that step?), both cakes were easy to make, especially with the aid of my new stand mixer. But which was better?

Up to the taster, really. Elvis has a lighter texture with more vanilla flavor (surprising given that the batter was bland) and is not overly sweet. Rose is very dense from the cream cheese, with a richer, slightly sweeter flavor. I’d say if you’re looking for a pound cake to eat by itself, go with Rose. If you’re looking for a dessert component to serve with whipped cream and raspberries, Elvis is your man.