The Flitting Anglican Priest Cake

I was messing around on Facebook as I so often do, and there was a picture of something called a "preacher cake" on the sidebar. I was curious, and so I clicked on it. In the comments under the recipe, some people hazard some guesses as to the unusual name. My favorite was, "This cake is so sinfully good, you'll have to see the preacher after you eat it!" Ha ha. But the most probably origin of the name is that it's so quick and easy to make, that you can have it in the oven by the time the preacher comes in for a visit.

As I perused the recipe--with lots of pineapple in it--it reminded me of a hummingbird cake, but without any banana. Also, oddly, the recipe didn't call for any kind of fat, and some reviewers remarked that it was rather dense, even chewy. A further internet searched yielded a few preacher cake recipes that were identical, but did include up to a cup(!) of butter.  I had two overripe bananas eyeballin' me on the counter, so I decided to morph the preacher cake and the hummingbird cake, prompting my clever friend, Jay, to entitle my creation, "The Flitting Anglican Priest Cake." LOL!

With cakes like this one (think carrot cake and such), I like the texture that vegetable oil gives, so I thought I'd swap that for butter. And although a cream cheese frosting would be expected here, I thought it might be interesting to use the buttermilk glaze from my favorite tea cake recipe, which would give it a buttery and tangy finish.

So this may be some sort of Franken-Cake, but I think it turned out very moist and very flavorful (better on day two, in fact), plus, it was so fast and easy to make! Next time, I might try it in a bundt pan, or it would make two nice loaves--one to keep and one to share, perhaps with your favorite man or woman of the cloth. :-)





The Flitting Anglican Priest Cake

2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained (I like to puree this)
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, toasted, cooled, and chopped (walnuts are fine, too)

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugar, oil, vanilla, bananas, and pineapple. Add eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly mixed.

Sift the dry ingredients together, if you can be bothered. If the priest is already flitting up the driveway, just throw the dry stuff into the batter and mix until just combined. Add the toasted nuts and blend one more time.

Pour into in a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish (or a large bundt pan, or two loaf pans) that has been sprayed with flour-added cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes. Check for doneness with a skewer.

For the glaze:
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine the buttermilk, sugar, butter and baking soda. Bring to a full boil (watch out—it will foam up!), and then turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Using a bamboo skewer, poke the warm cake all over with small holes. Spoon all of the glaze evenly over the cake (I prefer to use a pastry brush for a more even application), then let it cool completely on a wire rack. You may also choose to gild the lily (like those fancy ecumenical vestments!) with your favorite cream cheese frosting instead of the buttermilk glaze if you prefer.

Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator. Yield: 12 large pieces