Maybe the baker was religiously inspired. Or perhaps it's a miracle, Nashville-style.
One thing's for sure, the cinnamon bun bears an uncanny likeness to Mother Teresa.Ann Loree, manager of the Bongo Java coffeehouse near Belmont University, said a customer bought the bun in October.
"He was about to take a bite out of his bun, and then he saw the image," she said Friday.
Customer after customer recognized the revered nun in the folds of flaky pastry.
So out of a sense of awe - or perhaps marketing potential - coffeehouse workers shellacked it and enshrined the cinnamon nun bun in a counter display, where it remains.
The management has printed up "Miracle Bun" T-shirts and prayer cards, and a video of the bun is being pitched to late-night TV shows.
"It may not be a miracle, but it's close enough for Nashville," said the Rev. Sand Sheff, a mail-order ordained minister, landscaper and coffeehouse philosopher.