Blueberry Buckle Cake Recipe
Blueberry Buckle Cake Recipe – Simple recipe for a tender crumb cake with juicy blueberries, a hint of lemon, and a buttery streusel topping.
Blueberry coffee cake is one of our favorite recipes to make during blueberry season, which is July through September here in the Midwest. It’s a great way to use up all the peak of the season blueberries that are available.
Why You’re Gonna Love This Recipe
This Classic Blueberry Buckle Recipe is bursting with flavor. It’s an incredibly delicious coffee cake with fresh, juicy blueberries, baked in a tender crumb cake that has a bright hint of lemon, with the most irresistible buttery crumb topping.
Here’s What You Need
All you need to make this traditional blueberry buckle recipe are a few simple ingredients you can get at your local grocery store.
Notes on Ingredients
Cake Batter
- butter – salted, room temperature. May substitute unsalted butter.
- sugar – granulated, white.
- fresh lemon zest – Lemon zest that has been freshly grated using a microplane is best. But lemon juice, or lemon extract are great substitutions.
- salt – We use fine grained kosher salt in all our recipes.
- whole milk – May substitute 2% milk or buttermilk.
- fresh blueberries – May substitute frozen blueberries.
Streusel Topping
- butter – salted, cold butter, cut into small cubes.
- brown sugar – light.
- sugar – granulated, white.
Variations
Buckles can be made using other fresh fruit or berries. Here’s a list of some common variations and flavor combinations to try:
- cherry
- peach, or peach and blueberry
- pear, or brown butter pear
- apple, or apple and salted caramel
- raspberry
- mixed berry
How to Make Blueberry Buckle Cake
This made-from-scratch coffee cake recipe is easy to put together in around 15 minutes and can be ready in about an hour following these simple instructions.
Preheat Oven To 350°F
- Prepare Baking Dish. Rub butter inside a baking dish or use non-stick cooking spray. Alternately, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Make Cake Batter
- Cream Butter and Sugar. Place butter sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, equipped with the paddle attachment.
Cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest for 3 minutes on medium speed, until the butter is pale yellow and the mixture is light and fluffy.
Note: This recipe creates a thick batter that will come together easiest using the paddle attachment and scraping the sides of the bowl from time to time in order to make sure the ingredients are combined evenly.
- Add Egg and Vanilla. Add egg and vanilla and mix for 30 seconds until incorporated.
- Sift Dry Ingredients. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate large bowl.
- Add Dry Ingredients and Milk. Add flour mixture and milk, a little at a time, alternating between the two, to butter and sugar mixture. Mix for 20-30 seconds, until just combined.
- Fold In Blueberries. Gently fold blueberries into the cake batter, being careful not to squish the berries.
- Transfer. Transfer the blueberry buckle batter to a prepared pan. Spread it out evenly in the bottom of the pan.
Set aside while you make the streusel topping.
Make Streusel Topping
- Make Streusel Topping (Crumble Topping). Combine all streusel ingredients in a separate bowl. Using a pastry cutter or a food processor, combine them into a coarse topping and the butter is in small pieces about the size of peas.
- Add Topping. Spread the streusel topping out evenly on top of the batter.
- Bake. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes. As the cake bakes, the batter rises and the weight of the buttery topping will cause the cake to buckle into the center, creating a dense, moist cake that is incredibly delicious.
Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. The cake is done when the toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake is golden brown.
Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before slicing into it. This allows time for the cake to set so that you can slice through it cleanly.