Blueberry Buckle

Blueberries are probably the most affordable berries, at least here in Singapore it is. It usually came in a small box of 125g, but sometimes if you’re lucky, you can find a bigger packaging at a slightly lower price. Blueberries are one of the fruits that I’ve eaten the most. I always eat them with yogurt, oatmeal, or blend it with banana and turn it into what I like to call, a bluenana smoothie, and of course it’s a wonderful fruit to bake with.

So when I got the book The Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook, the first recipe that caught my eye was the blueberry buckle. So what the heck is a blueberry buckle? Well it’s actually a single layer sour cream cake bursting with blueberries and has a layer of crumble topping that looks buckled or crumbled, that’s where the name came from. Sometimes it’s called blueberry buckle, sometimes blueberry crumble.  I know, looking at my pictures you must be wondering “are you sure that’s a crumble”??? It looks like bak chor (minced pork in hokkein).

The photos did not do justice to the cake. It was a very scrumptious cake! I’ve made countless sour cream cakes but this one with a little ground cardamon was really special. The cardamon adds warmth and zing to the cake and the crumble was satisfying and addictive. The crumble topping may appear to be too much after putting them together but trust me, they are not.

The cake was best eaten warm on the day it is made with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, it was still good on the 2nd day and should be able to last till the 3rd day if store properly in a plastic wrap, although the cake did not make it to the 3rd day in our home. It was being eaten up without a crumb left. 

Blueberry Buckle (Adapted from The Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day)  Yields a 9-inch round cake

Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Butter the sides of a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.

For the crumb topping:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

113g really cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

To make crumb topping:

• Combine the sugars, cinnamom, ground nutmeg, and flour in a small bowl and mix until well blended.

• Cut in the butter with the pastry blender until the crumbs are the size of peas. Put the topping in a covered container or ziplog bag and set in the freezer to chill while you mix the cake batter.

For the buckle:

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder, preferably aluminium-free

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom

85g unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest (I find this optional)

2/3 cup sour cream

2 cups fresh blueberries

To make the buckle:

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Set aside.

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using handheld mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium high speed for 5 to 7 minutes, until light and fluffy.

• Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream.

• With the mixer still on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing until just incorporated (not more than 30 seconds). Gently fold in the blueberries.

• Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.

• Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top of the cake batter.

• Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Sprinkle the top of the buckle lightly with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature, right out of the baking dish. Wrapped in plastic wrap, the buckle will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days.