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Blueberry Buckle is a blueberry-studded cake topped with a sweet cinnamon-streusel topping that “buckles” as it cools.
Early in my career in the Boston area, I worked with a lovely woman named Jane. One day, Jane announced that she would be bringing in some of her Blueberry Buckle the following morning.
The Blueberry Buckle was originally Jane’s grandmother’s recipe, and I soon learned from my co-workers that this was considered a Very Special Event in the office! And the next morning, the air in the office was literally buzzing with anticipation as we waited for Jane to arrive with The Buckle.
We all watched as Jane finally walked off the elevator – carrying her blueberry buckle – with a big, knowing smile on her face. We followed Jane to the office kitchen and collectively said “ooh!” as she revealed the blueberry buckle in the baking pan, which she had thoughtfully wrapped in a dish towel so it would stay warm during her commute to the office. Carefully she served each of us a piece – and then we dove in!
What is a buckle?
A buckle is an old-fashioned single layered cake interspersed with berries and with a streusel-type topping that “buckles” as it cools.
There is one word for that blueberry buckle: sublime. Not too sweet, perfectly moist, warm and bursting with berries. OK – that was more than one word, but this is a must-try recipe!
Jane was nice enough to share her recipe with us that day, and we’re now sharing it with you. Scroll down to see this Blueberry Buckle recipe, as well as video showing how we make it!
To Jane and her grandmother, wherever you are…thank you for sharing your recipe, and I hope we have done your family recipe proud!
This recipe was originally published on A Family Feast in January 2013. The photos and recipe have been updated.
You may like these other blueberry recipes:
- Lemon Blueberry Cream Pie
- 25 Best Blueberry Recipes
- Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
- Blueberry Pudding Cake
- The Real Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins Recipe
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Blueberry Buckle
Blueberry Buckle is a blueberry-studded cake topped with a sweet cinnamon-streusel topping that “buckles” as it cools.
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- Additional shortening and flour to prepare the baking pan
For the topping
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until blended. Then add the milk and mix again until blended.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture slowly until blended. Fold in the blueberries.
- Grease and flour a 9×9 or 8×10 pan. Spread the blueberry batter evenly into the prepared pan.
- To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the cake mixture in the pan.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes for an 8×10 pan or 45-50 minutes for an 9×9 pan (until cake tester comes out clean). Other size baking pans may be used – just adjust the cooking time accordingly.
- Serve warm or cold, plain or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
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When you say shortening, do you mean Crisco or butter?
Hi Debbie – You’ll want to use Crisco.
Why is there a video on the printable page?! I definitely don’t want to print that – or all of the ads. Not usable.
Thanks for your feedback Kay – I can totally see your point and will check to see if there is a setting I can change to avoid printing out that unwanted information. (I hope you get this message – your email address doesn’t look like it’s valid.) Happy Thanksgiving!
Have been making this recipe since 1970’s. A family favorite – all the children and grandkids want this when they come to visit.
I agree Chris! It is certainly a delicious classic!
I have made this recipe two times and everyone loves it! I decided to make it with raspberries and it turned out great! This Will be my go to recipe!
Sounds like a great adaptation Kim!
This is delicious. We eat it as a blueberry coffee cake on Sunday morning. I put lots of blueberries in it and it is just delicious! It freezes well.
Thanks Judy!
The perfect blueberry coffee cake! I’ve already made it three times in the past month, it’s THAT good! Trying muffins next batch.
Thanks Colleen – glad you enjoyed the recipe! Although we haven’t made muffins using this recipe ourselves, I believe several readers who left comments have done so with good success.
We have made Blueberry Buckle a few times. It is wonderful!
Thanks for the recipe. It is now one of our family favorites ❤️
You are very welcome Linda! So glad you enjoy the recipe as much as we do!
I’ve made this buckle twice. Exactly as written. Excellent. My topping never “buckled”, but it’s great anyway. Make sure the blueberries are dried off and gently fold the blueberries in or you will have purple cake. This is a cake with a topping.
Thanks Sherri!
This is a winner every time! I usually make muffins with the recipe though. Yummy!
Thanks Sheryl! Love the muffins idea!
I nearly didn’t make this recipe – before trying anything new I read the reviews to see how it turned out, if it needs any tweaks etc, and it took a lot of reading before I actually found a few reviews from people who had actually MADE it. It’s frustrating to wade through review after review of people who ‘must try” “looks yummy” “pinning for later”! Sorry, ranting over, it’s just one of my biggest pet peeves lol. I’m soo glad I gave this recipe a shot – it’s delicious! I did use frozen berries since it’s nearly blueberry season and have to make room for the fresh batches lol. What I did was added half the flour to the batter, sprinkled the berries over top and then added the rest of the flour. That way the blueberries had a nice coating of it to sort of seal in the juices. Can’t wait to try this with fresh from the garden raspberries, or maybe peaches off our tree out back, even apples in the fall! Thanks!
We’re glad you enjoyed the recipe Jane! Sounds like some great adaptations!