Blueberry Buckle
A beautiful family recipe that has stood the test of time. Passed down through the generations, I decided to take it into my own hands to modernize this very old, yet special summer recipe.
A recipe originally written by my great grandmother, passed down and adapted by me. I had to fill in the blanks that she left behind as well as adding my own ideas to improve an already delicious cake. This means figuring out cooking temperatures and times for modern kitchen appliances and updating some of the ingredients to improve the overall quality of the cake. In its heyday, this cake would've been originally made in a wood burning oven, much different than an electric oven, and included some ingredients that I didn’t 100% agree with. I was compelled to change the recipe and bring it into the 21st century.
It took a lot of research, testing and baking knowledge to make this cake accessible to everyday, modern bakers. There’s nothing like looking at a recipe and seeing, “Bake until golden brown and ready.” Or “use Crisco if butter is not available.” I don’t want to even imagine the hellscape in which butter may have not been a viable option, due to lack of refrigeration or just availability. But hey those were the times in which this recipe was actually written down. You can see why it definitely deserved an update.
My great grandmother and grandmother put a piece of themselves into this recipe by writing it down and sharing it with the rest of the family. Now I’m putting a little piece of myself into it and sharing it with all of you.
Blueberry Buckle
Crumb Topping
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ cup of unsalted butter, room temp
¼ tsp kosher salt
½ cups of granulated sugar
¼ light brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cups of unsalted butter, room temp
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
½ cup buttermilk
1tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups of fresh blueberries
Preheat your oven to 350°F, grease and line a 9” square pan with butter and parchment paper.
In a small bowl, combine all the crumb topping ingredients and mix with a fork. Mix until everything becomes crumbly and put to the side.
In a large bowl, measure out flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk and put to the side.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars. Once your sugar, butter mixture becomes light and fluffy add your egg until fully incorporated. On low speed, alternate mixing in the buttermilk and your flour mixture until everything is incorporated and no more flour is visible. After the batter is mixed, gently fold in the blueberries.
Spread cake batter into pan and top with crumb topping. Bake for about an hour or until golden brown, the crumb topping will be dried and crusty forming a shell over the cake. Poke with a cake tester or toothpick, when it comes out clean it is done.
Let cool completely before cutting. Make your favorite cup of coffee or tea and enjoy!
*Note: This cake is best the day you make it but it can be stored wrapped up at room temperature for 3 days.