Recipes for the season: Blueberry Buckle

Yee-ha. It’s blueberry season. We got some lovely ones from Solebury Orchard yesterday. Some are going into Mark’s homemade ice cream (made from Birchwood Farms sweet cream), some went into the freezer for cold winter days, and some, well, just went back into the fridge. I couldn’t bear to put them ALL away.

Blueberries bring to mind one of my favorite recipes, Blueberry Buckle. It’s a old-fashioned, moist cake, full of bursting blueberries with a crackly thin sugar glaze on top. Perfect with coffee in the morning. Diet be damned. Blueberries are only in season a short while.

Blueberry Buckle

INGREDIENTS for cake

2 cups blueberries
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup butter
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
grated lemon rind
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

INGREDIENTS for glaze

2 tbsp. soft butter
¼ cup sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice

HOW TO make cake

1. Wash and drain blueberries. Set aside on towels to dry thoroughly.
2. Stir lemon juice into milk. Set aside.
3. Set oven for 350°F.
4. Cream butter, sugar, egg; grate lemon rind in.
5. Add milk and lemon mixture, flour, baking powder, and salt. Do NOT overmix/beat.
6. Add blueberries and gently stir; pour into greased 8″ square pan.
7. Bake 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

HOW TO make glaze

1. Prepare glaze just before cake is done baking.
2. Cook all ingredients over low heat until smooth, and then remove.
3. When cake is done, spread glaze over top. Return cake to oven and broil until glaze bubbles (but avoid overbrowning).

NOTE: You can also use this same recipe to make muffins, but brush the glaze on the muffin tops instead of pouring.