BLUEBERRIES! BLUEBERRY BUCKLE

Get ready for it.  I am doing blueberries this month.

While I am not a huge fan of raw blueberries there is something about a blueberry cooked into a pie, buckle, cobbler, crisp, muffin, Danish pastry, jam, sauce, or whatever I can cook it into, that I just love.

I went to the market yesterday and they had baskets of blueberries. Not the overlarge, relatively tasteless blueberries that have regrettably become common lately.  But real blueberries: small, sweet, delicious.  And now I have two quarts of blueberries to use up!

I am starting simple and classic: Blueberry Buckle.

What is a Blueberry Buckle?

And why is it called that?

Blueberry Buckle is essentially a coffee cake.  A moist layer of cake is topped with blueberries and a crumble mix.

It’s called a buckle because the weight of the blueberries and crumble cause the cake to sag (or buckle) as it rises up.  In the beginning, all of the blueberries were place on top of the cake.  Then cooks started to mix the blueberries into the cake to get a better distribution.  I do both.

Begin with the crumble topping. Sugar, butter, flour, oatmeal, and cinnamon.  Use a fork to blend it in or get your fingers messy and do it by hand.

Keep mixing the topping until the large chuncks are mostly gone

Next make the cake.

Butter, sugar, and eggs get beat together then milk and flour are added in turns.The batter will be very thick.

The batter is thick because it needs to stand up to the weight of the berries and crumble

Finally stir in half the blueberries.

Grease an 8” square pan and spread the batter in it. Use a spatula or knife to spread it evenly.

Distribute the rest of the blueberries evenly on top of the batter.

You can’t put too many blueberries in this!

Do the same with the crumble topping.

Bake it for 40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

And even though you want to cut into it and enjoy it right away, let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan or your buckle will crumble!

Print

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Author Susan Murray, www.awomancooksinasheville.com

Ingredients

For the Crumble Topping

• 1/3 c sugar
• ¼ c flour
• ¼ c oatmeal
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp butter room temperature

For the Cake

• 2 c flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¾ c sugar
• 4 tbsp butter room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ½ c milk
• 2 c blueberries divided.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or spray with cooking oil an 8” square pan.

Make the Crumble.

1. Put all of the crumble ingredients in a small bowl and using your fingers or a fork rub in the butter until the large clumps are gone and it is crumbly. Set aside.

Make the Cake.

1. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt with a fork or a whisk.
2. In the bowl of a mixer beat together the sugar, egg, butter, and vanilla until it is smooth.
3. Add the milk and flour mixture to the batter in four turns, starting with half the milk, then half the flour. Repeat, ending with the flour.
4. Carefully stir in one cup of the blueberries. Mix gently so as not to break them and stop when they are just mixed in.
5. Spread the thick cake batter in the prepared pan.
6. Distribute the remaining cup of blueberries evenly over the top of the batter.
7. Sprinkle the crumble topping on top of the berries.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center of the cake.
9. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before serving.
10. Serve warm or at room temperature. The cake will keep, tightly covered, at room temperature for up to four days.