I was recently burdened with an overabundance of blueberries. (What a hard life I have, I know)
As much as I love blueberries I was nearing the end of my week and still had more than I could eat sitting in the fridge taunting me, threatening me that they were going to turn at any minute. The worst thing about berries is that they turn from delicious to inedible in the blink of an eye.
What was I to do with these berries? How could I possibly relieve myself of this awful burden?
The same way I solve all of my other problems, apparently, with cake!
As though it was meant to be, I came across the Bon Appetit recipe for a blueberry buckle and the clouds parted and the angels sang and all was right in the world again….
And I thought I would kick up the summer appeal by adding a bit of tropical coconut… because coconut = summer, right? Something like that.
I’m not sure what exactly differentiates a buckle from a coffee cake or any other cake for that matter… then again, who does? According to this article, this thing isn’t even a buckle, anyway! I think this counts as “coffee cake” in my book, but if they want to call it a buckle, I’m down for that too.
“A cake by any other name still tastes as sweet…”
Right?
But this buckle/cake/coffee cake/sugar-flour-butter-baby was amazing.
This was one of the most tender cake/cake-like-items that I have ever put in my mouth. The fact that it was filled to the brim with tart-yet-sweet blueberries and topped with glorious cinnamony streusel just made it all that much better. This cake “buckle” is just as suited to accompany your morning coffee as it is for you after-dinner scoop of ice cream.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup coconut cream (or full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 12 ounces blueberries
Instructions
- Prepare a 9-inch round spring-form pan with flour and butter (or use baking spray) and line with parchment. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Whisk all streusel ingredients together except butter.
- Cut butter into 1/2-inch cubes and cut into the streusel mixture until evenly distributed.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat butter with sugar on high until the butter is pale and fluffy, about five minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla until incorporated.
- Turn speed to low and add the flour mixture in two additions alternating with the coconut cream, just until incorporated.
- Gently fold in the blueberries into the batter and scrape the batter into the pan. The batter will be thick and chock-full of blueberries. Gently press the batter into the pan with your hands or a spatula until it covers the bottom of the pan.
- Top batter with streusel and bake 80 to 90 minutes until baked through. Cool at least 30 minutes on a wire rack still in the pan.
Notes
* You will want to use a spring-form pan here since you cannot turn out the cake (or you will lose all of the delicious streusel)
* Though blueberries are used here, feel free to use any fruit you like or no fruit at all. This cake is AMAZING.
This recipe was adapted from Bon Apetit, July 2014