Blueberry Buckle

Here is a wonderful little something that is delicious to eat as part of a Sunday brunch, or as a dessert anytime that you have nice sweet blueberries in your market.  The tartness of the blueberries combines well with the sweetness of the batter and topping in this easy, three-layer dish.  If you’re making it for breakfast, you can make the batter and the crumble topping in advance and keep them in the refrigerator overnight—and wash the berries and put it all together quickly in the morning.

Although delicious just as it is, at breakfast time, you could top this with a spoonful of vanilla yogurt or a splash of cream.  As a dessert, this pairs nicely with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Blueberry Buckle
Adapted from a recipe by Chefs Melissa Kelly and Price Kushner

Serves 8

Ingredients for the batter:

4 tablespoons butter, softened
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup buttermilk

To prepare the batter:

Beat the butter with the sugar until well combined.  Add the egg and continue to beat.  Stir the flour and the baking soda together.  Add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar and egg mixture and beat until well combined.  Add the buttermilk and beat just to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Ingredients for the filling:

4 cups blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

To prepare the filling:

Stir together the blueberries, lemon juice, flour and sugar—coating the blueberries well.

Ingredients for the crumble topping:

¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small pieces

To prepare the crumble topping:

Put all of the ingredients in a small bowl and work them together with fingers until it is well blended and “crumbly”.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

To put it all together:

Grease eight 6-ounce ramekins or one 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan.  Add ¼ cup of batter to each ramekin, smoothing the mixture with a spoon or spatula.  Spoon ½ cup of the blueberry mixture over the batter.  Top the blueberries with ¼ cup crumble each.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the crumble topping is nicely browned and the blueberries are bubbling at the edges.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.