This morning I had a hankering for something blueberry. I have all these wonderful, fresh blueberries from the market and wanted to make a sweet dessert with my kids, mostly to pass the time on this warm, summer day. The first treat that came to mind was my dairy, egg and nut free Blueberry Buckle. What’s a buckle, you might ask? It’s really a fancy word for a coffee cake, but if you look back in old cookbooks they’ll tell you the name is derived from how the dessert is baked: a rich cake with a single layer of berries, topped with a crumb mixture. The “buckle” is the uneven appearance of the top after it has baked in the oven.
This little homey dessert is a true slice of heaven, for so many reasons. For starters, it is super simple to make with your kids. My 4 year old Matthew poured all the ingredients into the bowl and helped me mix. After I poured the thick batter in a 9 inch square dish, my soon to be 3 year old David sprinkled the blueberries all over the batter. After cutting in dairy free margarine into a cinnamon, sugar and flour mixture, the boys helped sprinkle the crumb topping over the layer of blueberries. They loved using their hands to assemble the buckle, and I love that they are enjoying a sensory rich tactile activity too.
This dessert is incredible warm from the oven, either alone or with a scoop of dairy free ice cream. I think it is just as fabulous for breakfast as it is for a dessert after an afternoon picnic. The next time you have a pint of blueberries, make this little gem with your kiddos. I can promise they will love making it almost as much as they will love eating it!
BLUEBERRY BUCKLE
This is another excuse for me to serve vanilla soy ice cream with a yummy cake. It is a simple cake loaded with fresh fruit and topped with a crunchy streusel topping. You could substitute another fruit for the blueberries if you wish.
½ c. dairy free shortening
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 T. water
2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
½ c. Soy or Rice milk
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
1/2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ c. dairy free margarine
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 inch baking dish with dairy free baking spray.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream shortening and ½ c. of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add water and mix until combined.
In a medium bowl combine 2 c. of the flour, baking powder and salt with a wire whisk. Add flour mixture to shortening mixture and mix alternatively with soy milk. Pour batter into prepared dish.
Combine the lemon juice, zest and blueberries in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over batter in dish and top with crumb topping (See below). Bake 50-60 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Serve warm with soy ice cream.
CRUMB TOPPING
Mix remaining ½ c. flour, ½ c. sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in ¼ c. dairy free margarine with your fingers and sprinkle over berries.
Yield: 1 cake
Yum! I can just picture David and Matthew helping you! What a riot!
OH this sounds and looks so good. Visiting your blog is a lot like going food shopping on an empty stomach–I want to try it all!
Wow, this looks incredible! I will be on over to sample some! :0)
These look really good and the recipe seems easy too. I would love for my kids to eat more blueberries as they are so healthy. Maybe they’ll like these if they participate in the baking!
[...] and fun-to-read Kelly is currently blogging about a delightfully different recipe she calls Dairy, Egg and Nut Free Blueberry Buckle. Now, this is something worth checking out. Here’s Kelly’s [...]
Ha! I can relate with that Jennifer!
They were so funny Cindy…but I am surprised at how great they have become in the kitchen!
Thanks Rhonda, I think your kids would have a blast making these. My little guys loved using their hands to make the different layers. Let me know how it goes!
My mother-in-law and her sisters came over today to see the kids and have coffee so I made this blueberry buckle and it was a big hit. Everyone loved it and my husband’s aunt even asked for the recipe. Thank you so much.
I made this today and it turned out well. I think the recipe may have an error though. For the crumb topping you say to mix remaining 1/2 c. flour and sugar, but by that point I didn’t have any remaining because I used all 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar for the ‘cake’ as was called for. Am I missing something?
I didn’t have any lemon juice at home, so I used vinegar instead since some blueberry pie recipes call for vinegar instead of lemon juice.
This may have been an oops typo on my part! Thanks so much Kristi! Also, I am sure the acidity of the vinegar worked fine in the buckle, but I personally think freshly squeezed lemon juice and zest is unmatched. Try it out again with the lemon and let me know!