The minute I saw this blueberry-dense buckle on Eating Old Loud it was over. I knew I was going to make this cake and love it. And I did (all of the above). It lived up to every expectation I had… moist and sweet, with a cinnamon scented crumbly top. But oh, the berries. So many beautiful fresh blueberries packed into one pan. More than twice as many blueberries as any other buckle recipe I’ve come across. That’s what makes it special, unbelievable. A zillion blueberries. While it was great warm right out of the oven, I liked it even better after several days in the refrigerator. The berries had set and the flavors intensified. Don’t let the summer berry season end before you bake a buckle. You’ll be grateful.

Blueberry Buckle

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
5 cups blueberries (I tossed them with several Tbsp. of flour to prevent sinkage)

Streusal Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

DIRECTIONS

1. To make the streusal topping, in a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Using a pastry blender (or food processor), cut in the butter until fine crumbs form. Using your hands, squeeze together the mixture to form large clumps. Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 10-inch round springform pan.

3. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. In a large bowl fitted to an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the egg and vanilla, beating until fully combined. Add flour mixture, alternating with the milk, a little at each time, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Remove from the mixer and fold in the blueberries.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle streusal topping over cake. Bake in preheated oven until a tester in the center comes out clean, about 60-70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove outside rim of springform pan. Cool another 15 minutes before slicing.

Makes 1 10-inch round cake.

(Adapted from Martha Stewart via Eating Out Loud)

Certain fruits give me the jeebies. It’s not about taste. I love the flavor of just about any fruit you can think of (except guava- I haven’t had the best experience with that one). It’s more about texture. I love orange juice. But I can barely gag down a whole orange. Same goes for peaches, plums- anything squishy and pulpy (although diced up tiny they’re fine). I don’t like fruit chunks in my yogurt or jam. And I can’t handle any fruit canned. It might be sweet and succulent tasting, but it triggers a gag reflex that I haven’t learn to overcome.

My mom makes delicious canned peaches. I know they taste divine. But I can’t choke them down. So I was a little nervous when I set out to tackle peach cobbler. I was worried I might have the same problem. If you could have seen what was left of this dish when Dustin and I were done with it, you’d know that I was wrong. These tender peach slivers bubbling away under a blanket of cobbler were divine. Maybe the texture combination of peach and batter and soft swirling ice cream made it alright. All I know is that I’m suddenly in love with this furry little fruit. Since it’s peach season, I highly suggest you treat yourself to this dessert. Such a wonderful way to celebrate summer.

Peach Cobbler

INGREDIENTS

Peach Filling:
8 fresh peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. corn starch

Cobbler Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

For Sprinkling:
2 tsp. white sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.

2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a square 8×8 baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Mix together the cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it over the entire cobbler. Bake until topping is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 20-30 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

(Adapted from All Recipes)

This 4th of July I made a blueberry pie, something I’ve never tasted before. Oh my goodness. It was delicious. It just might be my favorite pie ever! What you can’t see in the picture is the red dish this pie is sitting in. Red dish, blue berries, white crust- it was very festive. And then the stars. Instead of a traditional disc crust, I used a Christmas cookie cutter to cut out stars to banner the top. Pastry dough is very versatile- with little difficultly you can shape it into whatever design you’d like. Someday I’d like to make a lattice. But remember the key to a buttery flakey pie crust is keeping the pastry cold (and not over-working it). Here we refrigerate it between each step to ensure that its still cold when it hits the oven heat. Cold butter + hot oven = puffed flakey crust!

Blueberry Pie

INGREDIENTS

1 recipe sweet all-butter double pie crust
4 cups (2 pints) fresh blueberries
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp. lemon zest
3/4 cup sugar + extra for sprinkling on top (optional)
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into tiny pieces
1 egg + 1 Tbsp. water, whisked (for the egg wash)

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare the pie crust according to recipe directions. Roll out half of the dough into a large round and place in the bottom of the pie pan. Set in the refrigerator while preparing the filling.

2. Toss the blueberries and the lemon juice in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the lemon zest, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over the blueberries and toss to coat. Transfer to the dough-lined pan. Dot with butter.

3. Roll out the second half of the dough into a large round and place on top of the filled pie. Trim the edges, leaving about 1 inch of overhang. Crimp the edges to seal. Cut several small slits in the top for steam to vent. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes or until the dough is firm.

4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 F. Before placing the pie in the oven brush the top with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar (optional).

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before serving with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 1 9-inch round pie.

(Adapted from Sugar and Spice)