Lemon Blueberry Buckle

This is the recipe I almost made a few weeks back but opted for this one. I have to tell you that this Lemon Blueberry Buckle is every bit as delicious as that Blueberry Bundt Cake!

The recipe is from the book, "Rustic Fruit Desserts" . Originally the recipe calls for a lemon syrup to glaze the hot cake but I decided not to use it. I'll give you the glaze recipe just in case you want to go with it... but it has plenty lemon flavor without it, though.

With fruit season just beginning, I hope you'll set aside a few cups of blues for this cake.

Make the crumb topping first, then pop it into the freezer while you make the cake.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest.
Add the eggs, one at a time.
Then stir in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.

Fold one cup of the blueberries into the batter.

Then spread the batter into your prepared pan and spread the other cup of blues over top followed by the crumb topping.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Lemon Blueberry Buckle (from "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson)

1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temp. for pan

Crumb topping:

1/2 cup (2 1/2 ozs.) AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. fine sea salt
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup (2 oz.) unsalted butter, room temp. cubed
 Cake:

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tbsp. ( 8 1/4 ozs.) AP flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Lemon Syrup:

1/3 cup sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
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Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9" square cake pan.

Make crumb topping:
1. Mix flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest together in a bowl, then add the butter and using a fork or your fingers, cut in the butter til the size of peas.
2. Place the topping in the freezer while you make the cake.

Cake:
1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl.
2. Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest on medium high speed til light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
4. Stir in the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry. Scrape the bowl occasionally.
5, Gently fold in one cup of the blueberries into the batter and spread into your prepared pan.
6. Sprinkle the remaining cup of blueberries over the cake, then sprinkle on the chilled crumb topping.
7. Bake 45 to 50 minutes ( mine took more like 55 minutes), or til lightly golden and firm on top.
Glaze:
1. Combine sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan and whisk til blended.
2. Cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, til syrupy. The glaze will bubble while cooking so you may need to remove it from the heat to check that it is thick enough.
3. Pour the glaze over the cake as soon as it os removed from the oven. Reheat the glaze briefly if it has become too thick to pour.
4. Covered in plastic wrap, the cake will keep at room temp. for 2 to 3 days.

Lemon Buttermilk Blueberry Bundt Cake

The real name for this wonderful cake is Lemon Buttermilk Rhubarb Bundt Cake but since it's still too early for one of my most favorite fruits to bake with...that would be rhubarb...I used the next best fruit that goes so beautifully with lemons, and that would be blueberries!

I saw some fabulous looking and sounding recipes that came out of this book, "Rustic Fruit Desserts" and I just had to order it. I'm always a little "late to the party" when it comes to noticing a great new cookbook... this one's been out since 2009. But I usually gravitate towards vintage books, so... 2009? That's pretty much like yesterday for me!

I had planned to make the Lemon Blueberry Buckle but decided I was kind of in the mood for a bundt cake. I can tell you this, after flipping through this book, I can't wait to try more recipes. It's filled with delicious sounding rustic desserts for buckles, cobblers, grunts, crumbles, and lots more...all my favorites!

This cake came out so beautifully, very intense lemony flavor and so moist. I'm sure tomorrow it will be even better...if that's possible!

The only change I would make is in the glaze. I really thought the glaze was a little too thick and sweet, so, as you might be able to see from the photo above, I glazed only half the cake! I put a little of the glaze into another small bowl and added some more lemon juice to make a thin glaze that  I drizzled over the other half. I kind of prefered this...but it's really up to you how you want it.

So to begin, sift the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and lemon zest til light and fluffy.
Add the eggs. one at a time, then stir in lemon oil ( which I didn't have so I used lemon extract).
Stir in the flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.

Toss the blueberries with the 2 tablespoons of flour and stir half of them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared bundt pan, then sprinkle the remaining berries on top.

Bake a little over an hour or til tester comes out clean and the top feels springy.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze, then after you pop the cake out of the pan, spread the glaze over the cake.

Lemon Buttermilk Blueberry Bundt Cake ( from "Rustic Fruit Desserts", by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson)

1 tbsp. unsalted butter at room temp. for pan

Cake:
2 1/2 cups ( 12.5 ozs.) plus 2 tbsp.(for berries) AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1 cup ( 8 oz.) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
Zest of one lemon
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. lemon oil (I used 1/2 tsp. lemon extract)
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
Lemon Glaze recipe below
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Preheat oven to 350. Generously butter a 10 cup bundt pan.
 
Cake:
1.  Sift the 2 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with the sugar and lemon zest til light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, scraping bottom and sides of bowl after each addition.
4. Add in the lemon oil (or lemon extract)
5. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. The batter will be very thick.
6. Toss the blueberries with the 2 tablespoons of flour and fold in half the berries into the batter.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle the remaining berries on top.
8. Bake an hour, rotating the pan halfway through. Test the cake using a toothpick. It should feel springy on top when pressed lightly.
9. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. 
10. While the cake is cooling, make the glaze.
Glaze:
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
Juice of one lemon
1 tbsp. soft unsalted butter
Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and butter together. The mixture should be thick. If not, add another tablespoon or two of confectioners' sugar.
Spread the glaze over the warm cake as soon as you remove it from the pan.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

I bought four more cookbooks this weekend. But wait, these are really good ones! Oh, the others?...yea they're good, too. But isn't there always one special book out of the pile that seems to have it all? This time it's the book, "Top Secret Restaurant Recipes" by Todd Wilbur. You've heard of him, right? He's the guy who clones all the top recipes from restaurants and coffee houses. He's even cloned the Twinkie...and Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bar.

He's really a funny guy and his books are just really fun to read. The stories before each recipe are not only fun fact filled ( try saying that 3 times!), but he interjects his humor into each.

So what does that have to do with a blueberry muffin? Glad you asked! I noticed he had a recent article pertaining to a certain blueberry muffin mix that contained...no real blueberries! Wow, big surprise. But his real gripe was the fact that the photo on the front of the box shows real blueberries, when, in fact, the mix contains none. He calls it deceptive advertising, which I agree. And that...finally brings me to why this post is on blueberry muffins. His article got me to thinking how darn easy to make your own...and they taste a whole lot better!

This recipe is created from here and there with my spin on it by adding a lemon glaze and some lemon zest in the batter. I tried to show an easy and fairly basic recipe. I had a bag of frozen mixed berries, rather than all blueberries but I just picked out all the blues and had to add a few other berries to make up the cup amount but they came out great. Nice and light and with a great lemony flavor that goes so well with blueberries.

So, the next time you want to make your family blueberry muffins...I say, give 'em real berries and save the fake stuff for...oh, I don't know...maybe potpourri!

The easy thing about making muffins is that you combine the dry with the wet, mix the two together and bake.

So, having said that, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Using a large bowl allows you more room to mix the batter.

In a glass measuring cup, combine the oil, egg and milk to reach a one cup amount.

Make a well in the center of the dry and add the wet.

Then mix just enough to combine the wet and dry and gently fold in the berries.

Scoop batter using a large cookie scoop...

And fill the muffin cups 2/3 the way full. (I ran out of regular size muffin liners but they came right out).

Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

While they're cooling, make the glaze but simply putting 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar into a small bowl and adding enough lemon juice to make a thin consistency.

Then, while the muffins are still slightly warm, drizzle the glaze over the top of each.

The glaze will kind of disappear but the flavor remains!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Makes about 9 regular size muffins

1 1/2 cups AP flour

3/4 cup sugar ( I would cut this down to 1/2 cup next time..but I think everything is too sweet)

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil ( I used canola)

1 tsp. lemon zest

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

lemon juice, enough to make a thin glaze

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Preheat oven to 400. Using a regular muffin pan, place liners in cups or spray each cup with a vegetable oil spray.

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.

2. Place oil, egg and lemon zest into a glass measuring cup, then add the milk to make a full cup amount.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the wet mixture, mixing just til barely combined.

4. Fold in the berries, then scoop the batter into the cups, filling 2/3 full.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or til toothpick inserted comes out clean.

6. Cool about 5 minutes in pan, then transfer to a wire rack and drizzle glaze on top of each.

Glaze:

Mix confectioners' sugar with enough fresh lemon juice to make a thin consistency glaze.

Blueberry Crumb Pie

With fresh blueberries everywhere , including the huge amounts my son Kris and I picked ourselves , I have been busy making blueberry pies for our Saturday Farmer's market.
I make the job easier on myself by making the pie doughs and crumb toppings ahead of time. The topping can just go into the fridge in an airtight container. For the pie crusts, pop them into the freezer, already rolled out. Just put them in between sheets of plastic and wrap them well. It is also a good idea to put them on something flat, such as a cookie sheet so they don't break in the freezer. You can also place and form the dough into a tin pie plate and freeze like this, already made and crimped and ready to fill and bake!
Making the crust ahead of time really cuts down on the chore of pie baking, especially if you make more than one..like I do!
The filling recipe for this pie, although I can't honestly remember where it came from, is my favorite. It uses a nice amount of blueberries and isn't too sweet. I really don't like cloyingly sweet fruit pies. I love the flavor of the berries or fruit to come through. And the filling hold together nicely.

And the crumb topping for a fruit pie is also a personal favorite of mine. I just prefer the crunch of the crumb topping, but if you prefer a crust topped pie, hey, just make two crust recipes! Don't, however, just double the recipe because the amounts become different, I noticed in the cookbook.
The crust recipe is from my cookbook " America's Best Lost Recipes".
The crumb topping makes easy work for the top because you don't have to play around with another crust and you get a nice crunch.

It comes out a pretty light brown golden color.

Blueberry Crumb Pie ( adapted from a little here and a little there!)


Single crust pie dough: (Makes enough for one 9" pie)

1 1/4 cups AP flour

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tbsp. vegetable shortening, chilled

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" pcs. and chilled

3 -4 tbsp. ice water

1. Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.

2. Scatter the shortening over the top and process til mixture is texture of coarse sand.

3. Scatter butter pieces over the top and process til mixture resemble coarse crumbs.

4. Sprinkle 3 tbsp. of ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, until the dough sticks together. ( If the dough does not come together, stir in a little more water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time. But test the dough by gently squeezing some in your hand. If it holds together then don't add more water. A little drier is better than too wet.)

5. Form the dough into a 4" disc and wrap in plastic and refridgerate for at least 1 hour.( Dough can be refridgerated, wrapped tightly in plastic, for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 2 months.)

6. Let the dough soften to room temp. slightly before rolling into a 12" circle.( I always roll between 2 sheets of plastic wrap.) Then gently place dough into your pie plate and trim away any excess along the edges to within 1/2" of pie plate. Tuck dough underneath itself to form a rim. Crimp the edge.

7. Place back into the fridge til your filling is made. ( Or you can freeze the dough at this point, too, for later use. Just wrap well)

Filling:

scant 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup AP flour

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp. butter ( I omit this for the crumb topped pies)

1. Combine all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and gently stir.

Crumb topping:

7 tbsp. unsalted butter, slightly softened and cut into small pieces

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/8 cup AP flour

1. Place sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in the bowl. Mix to combine.

2. Add the butter and work in with your fingers or a fork.

3. Add the flour, a half amount at a time, working in with a fork. then using your fingers.

4. Once all the flour is worked in, make clumps of the dough, then break clumps apart slightly.

5. Set crumb mixture aside or refridgerate til you're ready to use.

To assemble pie:

1. Take pie crust out of fridge or freezer and fill with the blueberry filling, spreading it out evenly.

2. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the filling, pressing very gently onto the berries. Don't worry if it doesn't cover all the berries. Once the pie is baked, it looks pretty to see some berries coming through on top!

3. Bake at 375 for approx. 45 minutes or til berries are bubbling and the crust is a nice golden brown.

Let the pie cool completely. If you cut into it too soon, the filling won't set properly and it may run.

Blueberry Picking

Today was the perfect summer day! It was bright and sunny with no humidity..perfect for doing just about anything outside. Like picking blueberries. Sure you can just go to the local market and buy a few pints, but why miss out on the chance to hang out with your son, enjoy the weather and gather sweet delicious berries!
While Kris was getting as many berries as he could, I noticed behind us the beautiful garden and couldn't resist photographing this yellow summer squash almost ready to be picked. I can't wait for the zucchini blossoms again this year. Have you ever fried them? Or stuffed them? They're so good!