wild blueberry buckle with lemon drizzle

by Michelle

wild blueberry buckle with lemon drizzle

WILD BLUEBERRY BUCKLE has been one of my all-time favourite cakes since I was a little girl. Mom didn’t call it a ‘buckle’ It was just a blueberry cake and it had to be made with wild blueberries picked by me! She would give me a small plastic cup which, when filled, would be the exact amount of berries necessary to make my favourite cake. I felt an amazing sense of responsibility to pick only the biggest, juiciest blueberries that I could find; my family’s dessert was counting on it! It was a perfect way to keep me occupied for a couple of hours.  In my memory, the blueberry field behind our house, where I would sit all by myself picking berries, was huge. I’ve since gone back to that blueberry field to find it not so large – through the eyes of a child…

The other day Mom told me that she’d revised her original ‘blueberry cake’.  It’s my new favourite…

wild blueberry buckle with lemon drizzle

WILD BLUEBERRY SNACKING CAKE
makes one 8″x 8″ cake
preheat oven to 350*F

CAKE BATTER:

2 cups flour – sifted 3 times before measuring…spoon the flour in to the measuring cup and level with a straight edge.
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup milk, at room temperature
1 ½ cups wild blueberries

THE STEPS:

  • Butter and flour cake pan.
  • Sift together pre-sifted flour, baking powder and salt then set aside.
  • Beat shortening with sugar until light and fluffy.
  • Beat eggs in one at a time.
  • Beat in vanilla and continue beating until mixture is light and fluffy.
  • Fold in flour mixture and milk in thirds, alternatively, ending with milk. – leave a bit of flour to dust the berries
  • Pour blueberries evenly over batter then lightly dust with a bit of flour.
  • Carefully fold in berries.
  • Pour into the prepared cake pan.
  • Crumble streusel evenly over the top of the cake.
  • Place in oven and check cake at 55 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the centre of the cake. The toothpick should come out clean.
  • Remove from oven and set on cooling rack for ten minutes.
  • Loosen cake around the edge with a butter knife and remove from pan.
  • Place cake back on cooling rack for 10 minutes
  • Using a fork, drizzle icing over the top of the cake.
  • Allow to cool completely before serving.

wild blueberry buckle with lemon drizzle

STREUSEL TOPPING:

½ cup pecans, chopped
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

  • In a small bowl combine pecans, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Pour melted butter over the top and stir with a fork until the mixture is completely moistened.

LEMON DRIZZLE:

1 ½ cups icing sugar
1 fresh lemon juice

  • Add enough fresh lemon juice to make a thin frosting – squeeze slowly so that you don’t make the frosting to thin.

wild blueberry buckle with lemon drizzle

THE LOVE: To keep your berries from sinking to the bottom of your cake, give them a light dusting just before folding them into your cake.

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wild blueberry buckle with lemon drizzle

Thanks for reading.