Eat: Blueberry Lemon Buckle

I know it's the middle of the winter, but I just went to one of my grocery stores, and blueberries are one sale! I got three pints of blueberries for under four bucks! I can't think of a better way to remember the sweet warmth and sunshine of summer than to make a dessert featuring its flavors in the middle of the winter.

And if the combination is lemon and blueberry, I'm all over it.

For this recipe you can use fresh or frozen blueberries. I used frozen ones (not dethawed) since I made this before going to the grocery store, but it would be just as easy with fresh. So use what you've got! It also called for a lemon syrup to be put on top, but I opted out of doing that. If you want the recipe for that, be sure to check out the link for the original recipe.

This has enough sugar to be classified as a dessert, but the struesel topping makes me think it would be quite yummy for breakfast, too.



And for those of you that are unfamiliar with buckles, they are a lot like a coffee cake, with the cake "buckling" around the fruit and topped with struesel. Yum!

Blueberry Lemon Buckle
from LA Times
{printable version}

Crumb topping

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup ( 1/2 stick) butter, cubed, at room temperature

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Add the butter, using a fork or your fingers to cut in the butter until it is reduced to the size of peas. Loosely cover the bowl, and place it in the freezer while you mix the cake batter.

Cake and assembly

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

3/4 cup sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, divided

Crumb topping, chilled

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the butter, three-fourths cup sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.

4. Stir the flour mixture into the bowl, a third at a time, alternating with the buttermilk, until both the flour mixture and buttermilk are evenly incorporated into the batter. Gently fold 1 cup of the blueberries into the batter.

5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and distribute the remaining blueberries evenly over the top of the batter. Remove the crumb topping from the freezer and sprinkle it over the berries.

6. Bake the cake until it is lightly golden and firm on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through for even baking.

7.  Remove the cake from the oven. Cool to room temperature. The cake will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, covered in plastic wrap.

What do you do to keep the winter woes away? (Say that five time fast...winter woes away...winter woes away...) :)