Blueberry Buckle

A friend sent me the photo below from my high school days. It brought back a lot of fond memories. Ironically one involves food. I realized a lot of my happy memories are about food. I'm not sure what that says about me or why that fact just occurred to me, but there it is. What can I say, I like food.




Stereotypes and jokes aside we had a lot of fun being cheerleaders. At the end of one season we were treated to a fabulous brunch at Nancy's enviable home. Her father was a doctor and they lived in the prettiest house in the neighborhood. Her mother was an excellent cook. We shared the delightful meal in their elegant sunroom overlooking their lush backyard. Everything was delicious but the blueberry coffee cake was my favorite. The tender yellow cake was full of ripe, juicy blueberries crowned with buttery streusel topping. I wanted to eat the whole cake. I asked Mrs. F what it was called and she said, Blueberry Buckle. Funny after all these years that a photo sparked such a delicious memory.

I love blueberries and wish blueberry season went on forever. I never run out of ways to use them. For another delicious breakfast or anytime treat, here is a recipe from a previous blueberry post.

Blueberry Buckle

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (4 ounces/115 g) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (125 ml) milk
2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350℉ (175 ℃). Butter an 8-inch (203mm) square pan. Cream the butter and sugar until light. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture and milk in two additions. Beat until smooth. Spread in prepared pan. Sprinkle blueberries over the batter and top with crumb topping (recipe below). Bake for 40-45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean.

Crumb topping

1/2 cup (70 g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (2 ounces/58 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Put flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter pieces. Using your fingers, rub the flour and sugar mixture with the butter until crumbly. Squeeze together to make chunks. Sprinkle on cake.