Blueberry Buckle

“Blueberry Buckle” is just one of those phrases I love to say. Blueberry buckle, blueberry buckle, blueberry buckle. I just enjoy the way it rolls out of my mouth, almost a tongue-twister, but not quite. Blueberry buckle.

Then there’s the wonderful factor of was a blueberry buckle is. Fresh, plump blueberries nestled in a moist coffee cake under a deliciously textured crown of streusel. I’d top everything with streusel if I could, all crumbly and sweet. Top a muffin with it? Of course. Add a little texture on top of a pound cake? Why not? Replace the top crust of my pie with streusel? Yes, please.

Buckle… buckle is designed for streusel. The pillowyness (is that a word? Probably not.) of the cake against the crumbly texture, tart fruit against the sugar…

I have trouble not doubling the streusel portion of a recipe every time I encounter streusel. It’s as though I don’t trust the originator of the recipe to have an appropriate amount of love for streusel the way I do.

This recipe is no exception. Notice how the cake is not visible through the layer of streusel. That is an appropriate amount of streusel in my book. If you don’t agree, that’s cool too, you’re probably just more normal than me. If we remember, I enjoy a heavy hand on sugar related applications. Just keep in mind that the recipe below has my… exaggerated streusel amounts.

It makes for such a delicious crumbly layer. Makes you want to just want dig into it with a fork… take a big bite…

Mmm… Excuse me, I am suddenly very… busy. Yes, busy… pardon me.. om nom nom…

Adapted from Alton Brown

Cake

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 9 ounces cake flour, approximately 2 cups
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
• 5 1/4 ounces sugar, approximately 3/4 cup
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 15 ounces fresh whole blueberries, approximately 3 cups

Topping

• 7 ounces sugar, approximately 1 cup
• 3 ounces cake flour, approximately 2/3 cup
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spray a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray and set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and ground ginger. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, approximately 1 minute. Add the egg and beat until well incorporated, approximately 30 seconds. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until incorporated and then add 1/3 of the milk and beat until incorporated. Repeat, alternating flour and milk until everything has combined.
5. Gently stir in the blueberries and pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
6. Topping: In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour and nutmeg. Add the butter and work into the dry ingredients using a fork to combine. Continue until the mixture has a crumb-like texture. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 35 minutes or until golden in color. Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

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