As I write this post, I am sitting on the patio of our condo, surrounded by beautiful views of Plymouth Bay.  I’m watching a sailboat as it comes out from behind the jetty.  I don’t think my parents are going to be able to get rid of me at the end of this summer.

Anyways, as a kick-off to the summer baking season, this week I have a good old family recipe to share with you: Blueberry Buckle.  Every year, my mom makes a blueberry buckle for the fourth of July.  And the buckle is actually the star of my favorite fourth of July story.  You see, my mom always wait until the morning of to bake the buckle, since it really is best warm and fresh.  One year, however, she was a little more rushed than usual.  With the help of my dad’s aunt, she was making the buckle fairly close to the start of our annual party.  They’ve got it in the pan, ready to go in the oven, and just can’t seem to figure out what was wrong with it.  It looked a little strange… because they forgot the blueberries.  So I walk into the kitchen, and my mom and Mary are pushing blueberries into the top of the batter attempting to remedy the situation.  To this day, I can’t help but remind her not to forget the blueberries whenever she makes it.

This year was a little strange for a variety of reasons, though.  For one, we no longer live in that house where we had the annual party.  So there was no real big event for us to be planning that day.  For another, Hurricane Arthur decided he was going to ruin America’s birthday by showing up and canceling all of the parades, parties, and fireworks in the general vicinity.  Finally, this year my mom let me make the buckle, with her supervision, of course.

So here is my first attempt at blueberry buckle!

First, cream together the sugar and shortening either with a hand mixer or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.  I only have a stand mixer for use at the condo, which is fine by me.

Next, add the egg and beat until well-combined.

Then, and I did some creative interpreting of the recipe here, since my mom’s recipes tend to include minimal directions, add the milk and beat that until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder with a whisk.

Add the flour mixture to the batter and mix on low speed until just combined.  Leaving some flour streaks is actually not a bad thing here as long as you scrape them down into the bowl after.

Add the blueberries and fold in using a wooden spoon.  I know what you’re thinking: Meg, that looks like WAY more than two cups!  It might be.  We just used a big thing of blueberries.  Not a bad thing.

Spread the batter into a greased 9×13 inch pan.  I used Pam baking spray, but you could also just use butter or crisco and flour.

In a separate bowl, make the topping.  Put the flour, sugar, softened butter and cinnamon in a bowl and mash it together with a fork.

Sprinkle and spread the topping as evenly as possible over the top.  Chunks of topping aren’t the end of the world, but some of your consumers may get jealous of others if you aren’t judicious.

The recipe card I found lacked a baking temperature or time, so I asked my mom.  Her response: “I don’t know, 375°? My mom cooked everything at 375°, she liked that number.”

So bake the buckle at 375°F for about 30-40 minutes, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.  If you happen to be doing other things at the same time, you won’t be able to ignore the smell of it, so when it smells done, it may very well be.

Serve it right out of the pan, warm for breakfast or cut into bars for dessert.  Stick in some American flag toothpicks to make it festive.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Buckle

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups blueberries

For the topping:

• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cream sugar and shortening until smooth, light and fluffy using a hand mixer or paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
2. Add egg and beat well.
3. Add milk and beat well.
4. Whisk together flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Add to wet ingredients and beat until just combined.
5. Stir in blueberries with wooden spoon.
6. Spread batter in greased 9×13 inch baking dish.
7. Combine ingredients for topping with a fork in a separate bowl.  Spread evenly over batter.
8. Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.