Monday, August 30, 2010

Wild Blueberry Buckle


After spending a week in Maine...what ingredient, other than lobster, would be better to spotlight than some wild Maine blueberries?
We had the opportunity to eat some fresh Maine lobsters. The blueberries came in the form of a blueberry cobbler made with some jam from Stonewall Kitchen...and my favorite pie on the planet from Pie in the Sky bakery.
On our last day, my Dad bought me a quart of blueberries from a farm stand. Once home, I pondered over what to do with them. I considered muffins, cobbler, a blueberry crisp, or a pie. But, while I was searching around, I saw this recipe for a buckle & decided this would be it.
A buckle is pretty much a coffee cake. It's similar to a crisp in that it has a streusel topping. But, unlike a cobbler, or crisp, the berries are mixed into a cake-like bottom. What makes it different from a typical coffee cake is the addition of fruit into the cake batter...lots of fruit. This particular recipe is about half cake, half berries, which keeps the end result super moist.

Begin by preheating an oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9" springform pan by greasing the sides & bottom with butter, then dusting it all over with flour. Tap out the excess flour & set the pan aside.
To make the topping, add 4 tablespoons unsalted butter {softened}, 6 tablespoons flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and an 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg to a mixing bowl.


Stir until combined & set aside.
For the cake, whisk together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt & 2 teaspoons baking powder in another mixing bowl.


Rinse & pick over 1 pound of wild blueberries {you can also use any berry you'd like}.

Add 1 cup of sugar & 4 tablespoons unsalted butter {softened} to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until the mixture is light & fluffy {about 1 minute}. Add in 1 egg & 2 teaspoons vanilla,

and beat until smooth. Pour in half of the flour mixture, then 1/2 a cup of milk & then the remaining dry ingredients, beating after each addition.

Remove the bowl from the mixer & gently fold in the blueberries.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan & sprinkle the topping over it. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until the center is set. The cake tester inserted in the center method doesn't work that well for this cake with the plethora of berries it contains.

Let the cake cool before removing from the pan. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if you have some...which, I did not. Will be adding that to tomorrow's shopping list.

Wild Blueberry Buckle

Adapted from Saveur magazine: Issue #122
Serves 8-10

for the topping
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
6 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

for the cake
1 3/4 cups flour {plus more for pan}
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened {plus more for pan}
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 pound fresh wild blueberries {or any fresh berry}, washed & picked over

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9" springform pan by greasing the sides & bottom with butter, then dusting all over with flour. Tap out the excess flour & set the pan aside.
For the topping, combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl & stir until combined. Set aside.
For the cake, whisk together the flour, salt & baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar & butter to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat until the mixture is light & fluffy {about 1 minute}. Add the egg & vanilla, beat until smooth.
Pour in half of the flour mixture, then the milk, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. Beat after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer & gently fold in the blueberries.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan & sprinkle the topping over it. Bake for 1 1/2 hours,
or until the center is set. Let the cake cool before removing from the pan. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Click here for the printable recipe.

11 comments:

Jane @ Sweet Basil Kitchen said...

Lucky you to have wild blueberries! If I can find them frozen I consider myself fortunate. Love the fruitiness of this recipe! Thanks!

Joanne said...

Berry overload! I love it. Not eating maine blueberries while in Maine would be like not eating clam chowder while in Boston - ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

Just came across a recipe for a "buckle" the other day and wondered what it was -- I had assumed it was a kind of crisp/crumble combination. Looks delicious. Fresh, summertime blueberries are heaven.

Unknown said...

That looks so delicious :) I want to make that pronto! Nice photos as well!

http://nicolefranzen.blogspot.com/

Karen said...

I remember going blueberry picking when I was a kid. Love blueberries!!

City Share said...

Thanks for the clarification of the difference between a buckle, crumble and coffee cake. I love bringing home food mementos from trips, and eating them at home. It kind of extends the trip, and eases the transition back into regular life.

Chelsea @ sprinklesofparsley.com said...

Looks delicious! I love anything with a yummy topping like this. Pretty picture too!!

Stacey said...

Fresh blueberry buckle is one of my very favorites, lovely image.

Unknown said...

Hi! Your blog is beautiful. Clarification question: in the photo directions, you suggest adding 1 cup of milk and in the written directions you suggest 1/2 cup of milk, which one will work better?

Thanks!

katie said...

Hi Kate,
It's a 1/2 cup milk. Thanks for finding my typo :)

Unknown said...

Just wanted to say I have used this recipe a couple of times now & I love it! Tonight I was longing for summer, so I made a strawberry rhubarb version (frozen berries from the summer). It is delicious & would be perfect for Valentine's Day because it came out so pink!

Thanks!

Post a Comment