Blueberry ginger buckle

What's a buckle, you ask? It's a Northeastern US, streusel-topped coffee cake loaded with fruit. This one's full of blueberries and some spicy zippiness from ginger and black pepper. The buckle has a dense texture and a crunchy, crackled (buckled) top. It's perfect for brunch, breakfast of with tea or coffee.

We went with the full amount of ginger from the original recipe. If you don't like ginger or have a sensitive palate, cut it in half or omit altogether. We added less than half the pepper when we made ours.

We saved a few of our blueberries to stud the top of our cake at the end. Simply press into the streusel topping.

Our recipe is loosely based on one in the book Bake From Scratch, Volume 2. We made alterations in the ingredients and technique, so we're calling it our own.

​Cake keeps for one day on your counter or five days in your refrigerator in a sealed container. We don't recommend freezing.

​Video is coming soon!

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ingredients

Cake

• 1/4 cup (57g) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg (50g), room temperature
• 2 cups (250g) cake flour
• 1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
• 1/4-3/4 teaspoon ground ginger (to taste or omit)
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup (120g) whole milk or buttermilk (we used buttermilk)
• 3/4 pound (340g) fresh or frozen blueberries ( we used frozen)
• 1 Tablespoon (15g) fresh lemon juice
• 9 x 9 pan (we used an 8 x 8 and it took much longer to bake in the center - we recommend a 9-inch pan if you have one)

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Topping

• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (42g) cake flour
• 1 teaspoon (2g) nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon (1.5g) Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup (57g) cold unsalted butter, cubed

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instructions

1. Heat oven to 350F (180C). Butter and flour a 9 x 9 pan square baking pan. Set aside.
2. In your stand mixer fitted with SideSwipe or a flat paddle, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until it is fluffy/sandy. It won't be super fluffy like many creamed mixtures.
3. Add egg and beat well on medium.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, salt and pepper. 
5. With mixer on lowest speed, add small amounts of milk, alternating with small amounts of dry ingredients. Beat between each addition, mixing just until barely combined. End with flour mixture.
6. In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice.
7. Gently stir blueberries into the cake batter. The batter will be thick - more like muffin than most cake batters. Spread and level with a spatula.
8. In a small bowl, combine flour, sugar, nutmeg and salt. Using a pastry blender of fork, cut in cold butter until the mixture is crumbly.
9. Sprinkle topping evenly over the cake. If desired, press a few extra blueberries into the topping for a decorative effect.
10. Bake until golden - 35-45 minutes for a 9-inch pan; 45-55 minutes for an 8-inch pan. It's difficult to determine the doneness with a toothpick. Instead, wait until the center no longer seems jiggly and the edges achieve a golden color. We overcooked ours a bit on the edges because it took a while for the center to bake. We used an 8-inch pan. This would be less of an issue for a 9-inch pan bake.
11. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove cake from pan. You can serve at this point or move to a wire rack and cool completely.