Making Summer Berry Buckle
On what possible occasion would you prepare a thing like a buckle? When you suddenly find yourself with an awkward, medium quantity of berries, that’s when. Too few for a pie, but more than you can comfortably consume on top of your breakfast cereal. Two or three cups, say. About the quantity you’d have left over after making jam, or if you stopped to raid a bush driving a back country road. Think of a buckle not as an intention, but as a circumstance.
Begin by preheating your oven to 375. Then grease an 8-inch-square pan with cooking spray or melted butter.
This is your basic creaming method sort of affair. Sift together the dry ingredients.
Combine the eggs and vanilla. Whisk them together or don’t…it’s not a big deal.
Now combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle.
Cream them on medium-high, then add a third of the flour mixture. Stir on low until barely combined.
Scrape…
…then add about half the eggs.
Stir again for about 20 seconds. Add another third of the flour, scrape and so on until all the ingredients are more or less together. An unincorporated streak of flour is, well, fine.
Add the berries. Here I have all blueberries because, well, that’s the pickle I was in. But a mix of berries is even better.
Fold them in.
Scrape the mixture into the cake pan.
Sprinkle on the streusel.
Bake the cake for about 45-50 minutes. Cool it on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes.
Slice it and serve. Cut it into whatever shape strikes your fancy…squares, circles, whatever you like. You can go surprisingly upscale with this with a little lemon-cider sauce and a creative presentation. No one will know it took you all of half an hour to prepare all the elements.
Do you know the origination of Buckle? I’m in Poland and they have something very, very similar to that over here. They make one with plums that’s divine. I’m going to be honest here, I’m kinda addicted. >.>
Hey Elle!
I wish I did. It’s one of those oddly-named sorts of things that’s been around so long, no one seems to know where it comes from. My guess is that it’s heavily influenced by northern European baking…the yellow cake base points to that. Also the streusel of course, though that could be a later addition. Really, it’s a mystery.
– Joe
“Think of a buckle not as an intention, but as a circumstance.”
Well said. I love this…and how true.
Hehe…thanks Susan!
– Joe
Circumstances being what they are, I’m inclined to buckle!
Hehe…nice. Let me know how yours turns out!
– Joe
Hi, Joe, love your site. I’m either dense today or blind but while I find the recipe for the Buckle easily enough–I can’t seem to find the streusel recipe you indicated. Am I missing the obvious? Oregon is berry heaven so I love finding new ways to use our great berries. Thanks!!
Linda
Hi Linda!
I meant to it up a link but clearly forgot. Just go under the Pastry Components menu and you’ll find it there.
Thanks for the heads up!
– Joe
When do you ever have fruit left over from jam? When I make jam I use all the fruit, and use the weight of it to calculate the amount of sugar etc to add. I thought that’s what everyone did.
We generally pick a lot of berries in the summer. We make jam with some, freeze some and do who-knows-what else with others. What’s left gets turned into something like this!
– Joe
Now all I have to do is wait for the huckleberries to ripen here in Wyoming. That will be hard.
Oh, huckleberries…you lucky so-and-so.
Enjoy them for me!
– Joe
My god, this looks remarkable. I was set on making a blueberry slump this weekend, but I might just have a change of plans.. For dessert, perhaps even a buttermilk anglaise to drizzle! How I love buttermilk anglaise.. nomnomnom.
Nice idea, Cheryl! Let me know it goes!
– Joe
We ate that many times during the summer when I grew up back in blueberry country… as you said, when there weren’t enough berries for a pie. I didn’t even know it had a name. We just called it “dessert” and ate it fast. I like the idea of a sauce. We never had sauce, just whipped cream. Yummy looking… my mouth is salivating!
Hey Brian!
Yeah, this is a fun class of desserts that often have no names…or very weird ones: grunt, slump, etc.. Just biscuit dough or cake batter and fruit. But do them with a little love and they really shine. Hope you get a chance to do one of your own this season…despite the dearth of berries!
– Joe
I couldn’t bake my way out of a paper bag, but I adore reading your blog, and looking at the photos. I guess I don’t just read it for the articles….
I was inspired by your baguette recipe, and made my first attempt today. Thank you!
How’d it go, Jennifer?
– Joe