Blueberry Buckle, a Taste of New England

Blueberry Buckle is very popular in the New England States which makes it feel very strange to be baking it in Old England.  They say it is called 'buckle' because the rough texture of the crumble topping buckles the cake underneath.  I don't know if that's true but it tastes great on either side of the Pond.  Here's how to make it.....

Begin by heating the oven to 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C.  Butter an 8x8 inch square pan.


Ingredients for the cake part:

3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup butter or baking margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 cups blueberries 

Cream together the butter, egg, sugar, and vanilla essence. 

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Add about a third of the dry mixture to the creamed mix, stir to combine.  Add 1/2 of the milk and stir.  Repeat alternating flour and milk until you have a smooth batter.

Gently stir in the blueberries.  Spread the batter into the prepared baking tin and smooth out to the edges of the pan. 

Ingredients for the crumble topping:

1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Put the crumble ingredients into a small bowl and use a fork to mix/mash them into a crumbly mixture.  Sprinkle the crumble topping over the cake batter. 

Bake for about 30 minutes.  The buckle is done when you test the centre of the cake and there is no wet batter only moist crumbs.  Cool for a bit, those blueberries are like molten lava when first out of the oven, and enjoy!