Blueberry Buckle

Wotchers!

I love how just a few simple ingredients can be varied and rearranged to produce different dishes.

A favourite childhood pudding of mine is Fruit Sponge . So simple and so delicious, the soft, light sponge and the warm sharp fruit a great contrast when served with some cold pouring cream.

Blueberry Buckle is a classic American pudding that is similar, yet different. This recipe is the earliest one I can find, from a 1941 Petersburg Alaska PTA cookbook available to download for free at archive.org. Lots of other delicious recipes to try in there, so pop over and grab yourself a copy.

A Buckle consists of a light sponge, fresh fruit and a rich and buttery crumble-type topping. As the pudding bakes, the fruit sinks slightly into the cake batter and the sugar and butter in the topping melt and form a craggy surface. Very easy to bring together and bake, it can be done in an hour, as it employs the muffin method of mixing. Some buckle recipes mix the fruit into the cake batter, but I like the layers in this recipe. It can be enjoyed warm as a pudding, or when cooled, with a cup of tea or coffee.

Blueberry is the most popular version, but as someone who really loves sharpness in fruit, it seems a little tame for my tastebuds. Currants – black, red or white – would be delicious. Any summertime berries can be used, either what is ripe or what is to hand. Also, you could use stone fruits such as plums, apricots, peaches and nectarines, although being slightly larger fruits, you would probably need to cut them into quarters or even smaller if especially large, in order to get the characteristic bumpy surface texture.

Rhubarb and gooseberries would also be suitable. Seeing as they are especially juicy fruits, I’d recommend tossing them in the cornflour/icing sugar combination mentioned in the Summer Crumble Bars recipe.

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE

Adapted from the original recipe by C. HUNGERFORD, Petersburg, Alaska, 1941.

60g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
110g plain flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
80ml whole milk
zest of 1 lemon (optional)
300g fresh blueberries – or fruit of your choice.

Topping
100g caster sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
60g plain flour
60g unsalted butter

• Line a 20cm square baking tin with parchment.
• Blitz the topping ingredients together until they resemble breadcrumbs.
• Heat the oven to 180ºC, 160ºC Fan.
• Mix the cake using the muffin method:
  • Sift flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest together.
  • Melt the butter.
  • Add milk and egg to melted butter and whisk together.
  • Mix wet and dry ingredients together – don’t over-stir, just enough to combine.
  • Pour mixture into the prepared baking tin.
• Scatter over the fruit.
• Scatter over the topping mixture.
• Bake for 45 minutes, turning the tin around after 25 minutes, to ensure even baking.
• Allow to cool in the tin a little before serving.