Blueberries

Blueberry Buckle evolved into dessert during the nineteenth century. While other summer fruit desserts like crumbles, crisps, and cobblers involve oats, breadcrumbs, or biscuits, buckles take a hard turn toward cake. James Beard maintained that buckles and grunts are one and the same. They can be made in a snap by tossing fruit into a simple cake batter and topping it was streusel, not unlike a coffee cake.

Blueberries and huckleberries are native to North America. They once grew so profusely that there was no need to cultivate them. Most southern blueberries are now harvested from carefully tended wild strands or from cultivated varieties descended from the original wild ones.

Plentiful berries were sustenance food for Native Americans and the earliest explorers and colonists. Native Americans knew how to dry blueberries in the sun, and later they sold them to English settlers who used them in place of currants in their recipes.

Blueberry Buckle probably was created by the colonists as a hankering for a taste of home-steamed puddings, minced pies, fools, flummeries, or lardy cake.

Since this Sunday is Father’s Day I thought it would be a good time to do a blueberry dessert. They are in season and taste wonderful. This recipe is somewhat different since it uses goat cheese to cut some of the sweetness and uses a honey lemon glaze to finish the buckle. This is a good dessert that any man should love.

 

Taken from ‘Palate’ June/July 2016

Blueberry and Goat Cheese Buckle with Honey Glaze

½ cup unsalted butter

¾ cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup milk

½ cup fresh blueberries

¼ cup goat cheese

Crumb topping (recipe follows)

Glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

 Using stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar until pale yellow and fluffy.

Add egg to bowl with butter and sugar, and mix until incorporated.

Sift baking powder, salt, and flour together in medium bowl.

Add half of dry ingredients to butter and sugar, and mix until combined.

Slowly add milk to butter mixture while mixing. Once milk is incorporated, add remaining dry ingredients, and mix until thoroughly combined.

Crumble goat cheese into blueberries, and fold into buckle batter.

Spread batter into greased 8-inch square pan.

Sprinkle crumb topping over batter, and bake until toothpick comes out clean, approximately 40-45 minutes.

Gently brush warm glaze over hot buckle. Let cool.

 

Crumb Topping

½ cup unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Cut butter into small cubes and bring to room temperature.

Combine all ingredients, and mix using a fork until the mixture is crumbly. Do not overmix.

 

Glaze

¼ cup honey

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Pour ingredients into small pot over low heat. Bring mixture to a boil, and remove from heat.