Blueberry Buckle

Summertime is truly the best season to indulge in berries. I personally always wait until they’re nice and flavorful this time of year before I start baking with them. Otherwise they are going to be so bland tasting! Just completely flavorless, which in turn makes whatever you are baking completely flavorless as well! I can’t stand that.

That statement holds more true for this breakfast cake than anything I’ve ever baked with blueberries, second only to pie. Blueberry Buckle is a gorgeous cross between a cakey cobbler and a coffee cake. It’s essentially a blueberry coffee cake on steroids, if you will. Almost 75% blueberries to 25% cake. Traditionally, it is topped with some sort of streusel or crumble, which makes it all the more similar to coffee cake.

So in reality you have to be a die-hard blueberry fan to enjoy this dessert/breakfast treat. I just so happen to be exactly that : D I LOVE blueberries! And don’t even get me started on my love affair with breakfast cakes… let’s just say that this buckle was a homerun for me. It turned out a perfectly moist cake, chocked full of blueberries, with a special little streusel crunch on top. Simply divine.

Don’t forget though!! Without fantastic blueberries this cake will be terrible. I mean think about it- if awful, flavorless blueberries make up about 75% of this cake what are the chances it’s going to be any good??? Come on now.

Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients:

Streusel:

½ cup (2.5 oz) all purpose flour
⅓ cup packed (3/5 oz) light brown sugar
2 Tb granulated sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
4 Tb unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces and softened

Cake:

1½ cups (7.5 oz) all purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
10 Tb unsalted butter, softened
⅔ cup (4⅔ oz) granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
20 oz (4 cups) blueberries

Directions:

For the Streusel: Using a stand mixer fitted with paddle, combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt on low speed until well combined and no large brown sugar clumps remain about 45 seconds. Add butter; beat on low speed until mixture resembles wet sand and no large butter pieces remain about 2½ minutes. Transfer to bowl; set aside.

For the Cake: Preheat oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 9″ round cake pan.

Whisk flour and baking powder together in bowl; set aside. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter, sugar, salt, and zest on med-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer on medium speed, add eggs 1 at a time; beat until partially incorporated, scrape down bowl, and continue to beat until fully incorporated (mixture will appear broken). With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; beat until flour is almost fully incorporated, about 20 seconds. Stir batter with rubber spatula, scraping bowl, until no flour pockets remain and batter is homogeneous; batter will be very heavy and thick. Gently fold in blueberries until evenly distributed.

Transfer batter to pan. Spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Squeeze portion of streusel in hand to form large cohesive clump; break up clump with fingers and sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Repeat with remaining streusel.

Bake until cake is deep golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool.