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Easy Blueberry Buckle Recipe: How to Make Blueberry Buckle

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: May 31, 2024 • 3 min read

Crumbly on top and packed with ripe summer berries, a blueberry buckle is that rare dessert that’s as indulgent-feeling as it is wholesome. Here’s how to make this easy, rustic recipe at home.

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4 Tips for Blueberry Buckles

Here are a few tricks for making blueberry buckles, including how to ensure the blueberries stay juicy and suspended in the cake.

  1. 1. Use fresh fruit. Fresh fruit is your best bet to keep the buckle juicy, never soggy. Frozen blueberries (or other frozen fruits) will leak liquid as they thaw, resulting in a noticeably wetter cake. More liquid also prevents the top of the cake from setting evenly and turning golden brown and crisp.
  2. 2. Flour the berries. Tossing the blueberries in a light flour coating will absorb some of their excess juices. The flour coating will also help the blueberries adhere evenly to the batter and prevent the fruit from sinking.
  3. 3. Fold the batter gently. Berries are delicate: Handle them with care to keep them from bursting and turning the batter purple. Use a rubber spatula to fold the berries into the batter gently.
  4. 4. Make individual servings. Divide the batter and topping into cupcake tins for a fun twist on blueberry muffins. Muffins will bake more quickly than a whole cake, so adjust the bake time of your cake recipe as needed.

What Is a Blueberry Buckle?

A blueberry buckle is a dense cake studded with blueberries and topped with a crunchy streusel. A close cousin of coffee cake, a buckle is a rustic, fruit-forward cake that gets its name from the way it buckles under its juicy fruit filling. Unlike the more time-consuming biscuit topping typical of cobblers, a buckle’s crumb topping is quick to assemble yet gorgeously crisp and crumbly.

Best of all, you can tailor the dessert’s flavor to your taste; fruits ranging from summery (sliced stone fruits) to tropical (pineapple chunks) will work beautifully—and, of course, the dessert benefits from a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.

What Is the Difference Between a Buckle and a Coffee Cake?

Buckles and coffee cakes are classic, brunch-friendly snacking cakes with plenty in common: buttery streusel toppings, molasses-tinged brown sugar, warming cinnamon, and a tender cake crumb. The main difference is the amount of fruit in the batter. While coffee cake often contains little to no fruit, a buckle is primarily fresh, ripe fruit held together by cake batter, lending the cake its signature tart sweetness.

Easy Blueberry Buckle Recipe

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makes

1 10-inch cake

prep time

15 min

total time

1 hr 10 min

cook time

55 min

Ingredients

For the streusel topping:

For the blueberry cake batter:

Make the streusel topping:

  1. 1

    In a small bowl, combine the pecans, flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

  2. 2

    Add the butter and squeeze it together with your fingertips until it’s evenly distributed and forms a loose, crumbly texture. Set the mixture aside.

Make the blueberry cake:

  1. 1

    Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly spray a 10-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray.

  2. 2

    Place a parchment paper circle on the bottom of the pan and set it aside.

  3. 3

    In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  4. 4

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined.

  5. 5

    Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to mix until the batter is smooth.

  6. 6

    Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter, taking care to keep the fruit intact as much as possible.

  7. 7

    Pour the batter into the prepared pan in an even layer and sprinkle the streusel topping over the batter.

  8. 8

    Bake until the streusel is golden and firm, approximately 45–55 minutes. Test the cake’s readiness with a toothpick; it will come out clean if it’s cooked through.

  9. 9

    Let the cake cool completely before serving or storing it in an airtight container or ziptop bag.

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