Blueberry Cardamom Buckle

Walking around Seattle in the last week has felt rather post-apocalyptic with the hazy air dampening the noise of the city. There are intermittent people on the streets wearing masks to protect their airways, some more effectively than others. I did see one city worker this morning wearing his mask only over his mouth and probably breathing through his nose. I should have stopped to help him out if he was going to all the trouble of getting a mask in the first place. Rumor has it the winds are supposed to shift and hopefully the air will start to clear by this afternoon. However, the Air Quality Index in Seattle was 190 this morning and apparently an index of 150 is equivalent to smoking 7 cigarettes. Great.

Kevin started his outpatient clinic block yesterday and we had been looking forward to many opportunities for taking our kayaks out before it gets too cold and grey. Instead, it looks like we need to start curating an indoor activity bucket list. I am happily accepting suggestions! In the meantime, I’ll be in the kitchen… I made this Blueberry Cardamom Buckle for Kev to take to his Neurology team as a parting gift before changing services. I also thought he might need a morale booster since he was long-call on his last day of the rotation. 

This recipe is based on a recent post from Half Baked Harvest. I had to do a little research to find out what a buckle actually is, and fell into pages defining all sorts of fruit desserts I had never heard of. Buckles, Slumps, Grunts, Sonkers, and Pandowdys are added to the list of the more classic pies, cobblers, crisps, and crumbles.

• A buckle is a fruit-studded, streusel-topped coffee cake that was so named because the dense cake sinks and the streusel top buckles as it bakes. These are typically made with berries, and blueberry seems to be the most common.
• A slump is a New-England cousin of cobbler typically cooked on the stove-top with biscuit or dumpling-type dough on top. It is named for the way it slumps on the plate after cooking with an unseemly appearance.
• A grunt is another New-England based dessert. Stewed fruit is topped with biscuit or dumpling-type dough and it makes a grunting noise while it cooks. These are typically cooked by steaming on the stove top in a covered dutch oven or cast iron skillet. 
• A sonker (who named this??) hails from Appalachia and are native to Surry County, North Carolina. There seems to be huge variety within this category of cobbler. The authors of Food and Culture describe sonkers as “a deep-dish fruit or sweet potato pie made with breadcrumbs or biscuit dough or pie crust—there is no agreement on how to prepare it.” If you have a family recipe or understand this better, please enlighten me.
• A pandowdy is a deep-dish stewed fruit dessert with rolled out biscuit dough covering the top. At some point during the baking, the dough is broken up and pushed slightly into the fruit dessert so that it crumbles and bubbles. This is typically made with apples, though other variations are out there.
• A Brown Betty dates back to Colonial times, when ingredients were much simpler. This is made from sliced apples, buttered bread crumbs, cinnamon, and brown sugar basically. No fussy crumble, crust, or biscuits. This ends up more like a bread pudding and should be served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Apparently this was a favorite dessert of Ronald & Nancy Reagan. Doesn’t get much more American than that. But who was Betty??

So what’s a cobbler vs crisp vs crumble? Notably, none of these involve pie crust above or below.

• The cobbler originated in the British American colonies and is made in a deep baking dish with syrupy fruit in the bottom and topped with a layer of biscuit dough. The biscuits have the appearance of a cobblestone street – hence the name. WHOA. That was a revelation for me. There is  wide variation within this category (as described above, and then some). The biscuit dough can be dropped with some space between for the fruit to bubble through or cover the entire surface. Sometimes it is served upside-down so the fruit is on top. Any variety of fruits can be used, though we commonly see peaches or apples. 
• A crumble is fruit filling topped with an oat-based streusel, usually including butter, flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar. This is a clumpier streusel than a crisp.
• A crisp is basically a crumble with finer streusel, usually without the oats. Both crisp and crumble toppings can include nuts and have many many variations. 

The original recipe used whole milk, but I had buttermilk in my refrigerator that I need to use up. I substituted the buttermilk in a 1:1 ratio. Buttermilk has higher acidity and lower fat content than whole milk, so my substitution changes the texture of the crumb. The more neutral whole milk allows more gluten proteins to form, and the product is a coarse crumb and sturdier structure. I prefer buttermilk coffee cakes because I think it adds a slightly more complex flavor and has a lighter texture. Sour cream is also frequently used in batters and also produces a tangy flavor with a fine crumb. This buckle lends itself well to substitution depending on what you have available. If you don’t have cardamom, use cinnamon in the cake batter as well as the streusel.

Buttermilk Blueberry Cardamom Buckle

2018-08-21 07:30:16

Yields 12

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Cook Time

55 min

Cook Time

55 min

For the Cake

1. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 2 tsp baking powder
3. 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
4. 3/4 cup light brown sugar
5. 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
6. 2/3 cup buttermilk
7. 2 large eggs
8. 2 tsp vanilla extract
9. Zest of 1 whole lemon
10. 2 cups fresh blueberries

For the Crumble

1. 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2. 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3. 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch spring form pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and brown sugar. Add the melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
3. Toss together the blueberries and lemon zest (I used the same mixing bowl) and sprinkle the blueberries evenly over the batter.
4. Next, make the crumble. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Add the butter and mix with your fingers (I use the snapping method) until the mix is moist and a crumble forms. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the blueberries.
5. Transfer to the oven and bake for 55 min - 1 hour, or until golden on top. If you insert a toothpick into the center, it should come out almost clean. Let the cake cool 5 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

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