
Blueberry Nectarine Buckle
Ever had a Sonker? How about a Slump? Or a Grunt? Do you even know what I’m talking about? (Oh, that poor Ceri Marsh, she’s finally lost her mind. Too little sleep and too many Dr. Seuss books and Wozit-in-my-Closet, she cracked up.) No, seriously, they’re desserts -old fashioned American desserts that are simple and make the most of summer-ripe fruit. I first came across a Slump in Amanda Hesser’s excellent Cooking for Mr. Latte. I have no idea why they all have such hilarious names. The best I’ve heard so far is Boy Bait. You know that’s coming soon, right? But this week, we meet the Buckle.
photos: Maya Visnyei
Hello, Buckle! We’ve got a lot more blueberry recipes coming up on SPC but I couldn’t resist picking some up this week. We eat blueberries all year but when the little, wild local ones are in the markets and grocery stores you really have to make the most of it. They’re insanely flavourful and just put those big, watery things you eat in January to shame. I’m definitely going to buy extra this year and freeze them while they’re in season. I particularly love the combination of peach with blueberry so I was all over this nectarine blueberry Buckle recipe in the Sono Baking Company Cookbook. I’ve made a few things from this book and while the recipes always lean hard on butter and sugar, they’re always excellent. Clearly it’s why they’re excellent. Buckles are moist, single layer cakes, often made with fresh blueberries, with a streusel topping. It was easy-peasy to make. I only used about half the streusel topping that the original recipe called for – it was just too much in my mind – so I’ve halved it here.
This cake would be great with a coffee in the afternoon but we took it to a barbecue and it was a big hit with the kids. That could be because the six of them took upon themselves to decorate it with red currants and flowers from our hosts’ garden, a couple of strawberries from the fruit salad and some curly gift-wrapping ribbon. It made quite an impressive presentation. Pride in their work aside, they seem to love the Buckle.
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8 Comments
Julia
July 12, 07:51I love traditional dessert like this. Simple but sooooo good! Now I need to look up what a Grunt is…
Amy
August 10, 10:37Oh, this looks delish!! Will definitely be trying it. Thanks for the recipe!
Tory
December 18, 04:00I love blueberries and this recipe picture makes my mouth water, I will be making this soon! Thanks for your lovely blog.
Ceri Marsh
December 18, 07:33Thanks! Let me know how it goes for you! It’s really so easy. It’s making me miss summer just looking at it again!
Lynda
June 30, 15:45I also have this cookbook and love it. The blueberry sour cream muffins is the best recipe ever. I put cardamom in it and it’s heaven. I made this recipe yesterday with some beautiful blackberries from the farmes market but I feel like the amount of flour is not nearly enough. Maybe my butter was just too warm but it seemed to me that it needed at least 1 3/4 cup of flour if not 2 cups. We’ll still eat it b/c the money spent on such beautiful berries but we had to bake it an extra 20 mins b/c so much buttery goo and then have put it in the fridge .
Ceri Marsh
June 30, 17:43Hi Lynda,
Thanks for your feedback.
I just had another look at the recipe in the Sono book and the amounts are correct. To be honest, it’s been awhile since I’ve made this buckle so I can’t recall if I needed to bake it a bit longer. I don’t think so or I would have included it in the post (which I originally wrote last summer). And I’m sure it’s not your oven – sounds like you’re a pretty serious baker so you would know if your temperature was off!
So… I wonder what happened? Maybe, as you say, your butter was softer? Are blackberries more wet than blueberries? In any case, I hope it wasn’t too frustrating. I hate it when you’re really looking forward to the final product and it’s a let down!
Now I’m going to have to make those muffins!
Thanks for reading!
Ceri
Jannie
July 05, 17:04Thank you / wonderful recipes!!
Roundup: Berries! - Sweet Potato Chronicles
August 22, 07:03[…] Blueberry Nectarine Buckle seems like the perfect summer dessert to […]