Blueberry Buckle

Last time I mentioned that I was going to talk about blueberries... yeah.  I'm doing it, big time.  So obviously all fruit tends to go crazy with deliciousness in the summer, but I think blueberries go especially nuts.  I'm so crazy about them that I'll pretty much eat them year round, even when they're less than in season...but during the summer I make it a point to use them more or less constantly.

What in the world is buckle?  Why are you calling it buckle when it's clearly some sort of cake?  These are the types of questions that I don't really have the answers to.  Yes, it is some sort of delicious coffee-cake type of confection.  All you need to know is that it's wonderful and you can eat it for breakfast or really any time.  And who doesn't like cake that somehow passes as breakfast?



Jim and I are good friends with a newlywed couple from whom I got this recipe.  You see, the two of them started dating in college and then maintained the relationship long-distance afterwards...everyone knows that's difficult.  While I know that the two of them were meant to be, I think the fact that this blueberry buckle was waiting for him every time he came in town to visit...well it couldn't have hurt, right?  Thanks again for the recipe guys!

Blueberry Buckle
(from my friend Kristen, and her mom)

Ingredients

Cake:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups blueberries

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter, softened


Directions

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease an 8x8 baking dish.

For the cake, in a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.  In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine sugar and shortening, mixing until fluffy.  Add in egg until combined. Stir in flour mixture and milk, alternating gradually; start and end with flour.  Use a couple tablespoons of extra flour to coat the blueberries before folding them in gently.  Spread cake mixture into prepared pan.

For the topping, use a pastry cutter and combine all ingredients into a coarse meal mixture and sprinkle on top of the cake.  

Bake in preheated oven 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Allow to cool before slicing and serving.