blueberry buckle
June 2, 2008
If you like this recipe, I am sure you will love these related recipes!
A cook who I admire sent me this recipe last summer when I told her I' d amassed 10 pounds of blueberries on a recent trip to the farm. Despite the 6 pounds I must have eaten while plucking berries from the bush, there were still too many to fit into my freezer. They were spilling out of my refrigerator door. I needed a use for these berries beyond their role as yogurt toppers.
(me and my blue hoard, July 2007)
This recipe would knock out at least 4 pounds. But I took one look at the directions and decided to eat the berries raw instead. The recipe seemed like a four-person job: I wasn' t sure how one could add things in sections while beating the batter for 20 seconds after each addition. WHAT? Besides, I didn' t have an electric mixer. Oh well. In the end, no berries were wasted, but no buckle was ever built.
I looked back at the recipe last weekend and realized that it' s not as bad as I thought. Some timing is required, and yes, an electric mixer, but the buckle is no nearly as terrifying a prospect as it seemed at first glance. So, I spent $15 dollars at the farmer' s market on Saturday (they were a parsimonious $1 per pound at last summer' s pick-your-own-blueberries farm) and crossed my fingers.
This cake has a nice lemon flavor and goes very well with vanilla ice cream. If you' re going to an outdoor picnic and want to bring the quaintest, most charmingly American dessert, this is definitely the way to go. Or, if you find yourself with an excess of 10 pounds of blueberries on hand, it' ll really come in handy. Twice, even. I suspect this buckle would also make a good blueberry breakfast.
Despite forgetting to add the vanilla and not having the proper sized pan—an anonymous “friend”“lost”my banana bread pan after I gifted him a loaf—the buckle rose, spread, browned and “sprung”anyway.
* 1/2 c sugar*4 tsp. cornstarch*pinch salt*2 tsp. lemon zest*2 tab. lemon juice*4 cups (1.25 pounds)*
FOR THE BATTER: 2 large eggs*1/3 cup sour cream*3/4 tsp. vanilla extract*1 cup cake flour*1/2 cup sugar*1/4 tsp. baking powder*14 tsp. baking soda*1/4 tsp. salt*6 tab. unsalted butter, at room temp.
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Have ready a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pit plate or an 8-by-8 inch baking pan. For the blueberry filling: In the pie plate or pan, stir together the sugar, corn startch, salt and lemon zest and juice. Add the blueberries and toss to coat. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With an electric mixer on low speed, add the butter and sour cream and blend just until combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Gradually add the egg and vanilla mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
Using a rubber spatula, drop dollops of batter onto the blueberries, leaving a 1-inch border around the sides of the pan and a space in the middle. Bake the buckle for 30 to 40 minutes, until the cake springs bounces when pressed lightly in the center and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (It may be necessary to cover the buckle loosely with buttered aluminum foil after 25 minutes if the top is browning too much.) Transfer the pan to wire rack and cool completely.
this blog is legit
It was yummy. I actually had it for breakfast the next morning! It was great meeting you at the dinner! Next time you visit SF let us know
-Omar (aka Nevine’s Brother).