Preacher Cake

Preacher Cake is a delicious and moist cake recipe made with amazing flavors from pineapple, pecans, coconut flakes, and a rich cream cheese frosting! It kind of reminds me of a hummingbird cake with all of the tasty spices and nuts in it. 

Preacher’s cake is definitely a more unconventional of the sheet cakes you might make, but it got its name (or so I’ve been told) that this recipe is made up when you were told the preacher was coming and you had to think on your feet to use pantry ingredients. 

While the classic preacher cake isn’t one of our quick cake recipes, it is a delicious dessert that you can make last minute without having to worry about making a layer cake or fancy, just a downright tasty and tender cake.

Ingredient Notes:

• Flour: all-purpose flour works great 
• Leaving agent: you will be using baking soda in this recipe
• Seasonings and spices: Salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, 
• Sugar: simple granulated sugar will do 
• Eggs: large room-temperature eggs 
• Oil: for this recipe we enjoy using vegetable oil 
• Milk: using buttermilk is a great way to add another level of added flavor 
• Vanilla: vanilla extract, either homemade or from the grocery store 
• Pineapple: grab a can of crushed pineapple and reserve half of the juice from the can
• Nuts: chopped pecans will be used and make the perfect added crunch in the cake
• Coconut: unsweetened coconut flakes

For the cream cheese frosting\

• Cheese: cream cheese softened at room temperature
• Butter: unsalted butter softened at room temperature  
• Sugar: powdered sugar is the best choice for making homemade frosting
• Vanilla: vanilla extract (I love my homemade vanilla extract it is so simple to make)
• Cream: heavy cream adds to the creamy texture of the frosting 
• Nuts: pecans chopped into tiny pieces
• Coconut: unsweetened coconut flakes are a simple topping for the cake

How to make Preacher Cake:

1. Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F and liberally grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with butter.
2. Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar. 

3. Add the wet ingredients. Add the eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Mix in the crushed pineapple and the pineapple juice.

4. Add the mix-ins. Fold in the pecans and coconut flakes.  

5. Bake. Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 

6. Cool. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely before frosting.

7. Make the frosting. While the cake is cooling, beat together the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth. On low speed, mix in half of the powdered sugar followed by the vanilla and heavy cream. Mix in the rest of the powdered sugar. 

8. Frost and decorate. Frost the top of the cooled cake with cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with pecans and coconut flakes.

Storing and other tips for this preacher cake recipe:

Fridge: Store this southern preacher cake in the fridge for the best result for up to 5 days using the container it was baked in.

Miscellaneous Tips and FAQ’s for this simple cake: 

Type of oil to use: 

When we make this recipe it generally uses vegetable oil, however, you can always melt down the coconut oil and use that in its place and add to the coconut flavor of the cake. 

Fresh or canned pineapple: 

You will need to use a can of pineapple when making this cake. I know normally fresh is best, however, for the texture of the cake you want to make sure the pineapple is incorporated into the cake in the best way, you will need the softer pineapple that can be found in the can. 

More dessert recipes to make:

• Layered Chocolate Chip Cookie Dessert
• Layered Pina Colada Dessert Recipe (Lush)
• Layered Cherry Cheesecake Lush Dessert Recipe
• Raspberry Pretzel Jello Salad Dessert Recipe
• Mandarin Orange Cookie Dessert Salad Recipe