Lemon Blueberry Buckle

FryBoy

New member
A "buckle" is a traditional American dessert, a one-layer cake made with fresh fruit, usually blueberries, and a streusel topping. It gets its name from the uneven or "buckled" appearance of its top.

This version was in an article on blueberries that appeared in the Los Angeles Times a week or two ago, which in turn adapted it from "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson.

I made it for dessert last night, and my wife proclaimed it to be one of the best desserts ever. I've modified the directions substantially for clarity, and a printable PDF version is attached.

BTW, the cake is a little more complicated and time consuming than most one-layer cakes as there are three separate parts -- the topping, the batter, and the syrup -- and you need to zest and juice two lemons. But it's well worth the effort.

Lemon Blueberry Buckle

Crumb Topping:
½ cup flour
⅓ cup sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, cubed, at room temperature

Cake Batter:
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1½ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾ cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, divided

Lemon Syrup Glaze:
⅓ cup sugar
juice of 2 lemons (about 6 tablespoons)

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.

3. Make the crumb topping by whisking together the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a medium bowl; add the butter, using a fork or your fingers to cut in the butter until it is reduced to the size of peas; loosely cover the bowl and place it in the freezer while you mix the cake batter.

4. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients for the cake (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg); set aside.

5. In the large bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, ¾ cup sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

6. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing well after each addition.

7. Stir the flour mixture into the bowl, a third at a time, alternating with the buttermilk, until both the flour mixture and buttermilk are evenly incorporated into the batter.

8. Gently fold 1 cup of the blueberries into the batter.

9. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

10. Distribute the remaining 1 cup of blueberries evenly over the top of the batter.

11. Remove the crumb topping from the freezer and sprinkle it over the berries.

12. Bake the cake until it is lightly golden and firm on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes; rotate the pan halfway through for even baking.

13. While the cake is baking, make the lemon syrup glaze: In a small saucepan, combine the remaining ⅓ cup sugar with the lemon juice and whisk until blended; cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid thickens to a syrupy consistency, 6 to 8 minutes. (The glaze will bubble while cooking and may need to be removed from the heat to check that it is the proper consistency.) Remove from heat, cover, and set aside in a warm place.

14. Remove the cake from the oven and drizzle the warm glaze over. Cool to room temperature. The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, covered in plastic wrap.
 

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QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
I have all the stuff for this and I'm going to make it sometime this week. Looks and sounds absolutely incredible, Doug!

I have a bag of FROZEN blueberries. Should I thaw them first, or use them frozen?

Lee
 

FryBoy

New member
I suppose you should defrost the blue berries first, although you can probably use them frozen and just cook it a bit longer. Perhaps the berry package has some suggestions.
 

FryBoy

New member
I looked at a couple of recipes on allrecipes.com and they generally add the berries to the batter still frozen. Here are a couple of examples, both of which have tons of rave reviews:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Lemon-Loaf/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Frozen-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx

The loaf recipe includes this direction: "Fold the frozen blueberries into the reserved 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture, then fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan." I think that would minimize the tendency of frozen blueberries, which ooze a lot of juice compared to fresh, to turn your batter blue.
 

lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
I looked at a couple of recipes on allrecipes.com and they generally add the berries to the batter still frozen. Here are a couple of examples, both of which have tons of rave reviews:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blueberry-Lemon-Loaf/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Frozen-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx

The loaf recipe includes this direction: "Fold the frozen blueberries into the reserved 3 tablespoons of the flour mixture, then fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan." I think that would minimize the tendency of frozen blueberries, which ooze a lot of juice compared to fresh, to turn your batter blue.
i saw a chef make blueberry muffins and said to toss the berries in flour then add to batter and this would keep the berries from sinking the the bottom.

can this be made with cranberries or peaches? it looks sooooooooooooooo good but all i have are frozen cranberries and canned peach halves.
 

homecook

New member
Thanks Doug! I've got everything but the buttermilk. Tomorrow I will be making this........yummy
 

FryBoy

New member
i saw a chef make blueberry muffins and said to toss the berries in flour then add to batter and this would keep the berries from sinking the the bottom.

can this be made with cranberries or peaches? it looks sooooooooooooooo good but all i have are frozen cranberries and canned peach halves.
Just guessing, but I think peaches would be too juicy, although perhaps you could adjust the liquid or something. However, cranberries or just about any other firm berry (boysenberries, blackberries, raspberries, but not strawberries) should be fine.
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Okay, I used the frozen blueberries and I did toss them with flour first.

Also, I made buttermilk out of 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 T. lemon juice.

This is a good one, Doug! Yummm!

Lee
 

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lilbopeep

🌹🐰 Still trying to get it right.
Site Supporter
Okay, I used the frozen blueberries and I did toss them with flour first.

Also, I made buttermilk out of 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 T. lemon juice.

This is a good one, Doug! Yummm!

Lee
beautiful!!
 
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