A member of the larger umbrella group of easy fruit desserts, a buckle features tons of fruit barely held together by tender cake. We're talking so much fruit that the cake buckles around it, hence the name. There are many regional buckle variations, and not all have a streusel topping. This particular recipe, however, has got lots of big crumbs—and we think you’ll be glad that’s the case. If you’re not into ginger or you don’t have it hanging around, you can change up the flavors. Try using the zest of ½ orange in place of the fresh ginger and ground cinnamon or cardamom in place of the ground ginger. Peanuts would be fair game instead of pecans or walnuts, or you can skip the nuts entirely.
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What you’ll need
8" Baking Pan
$26 $24 At Amazon
Parchment Paper
$4 At Amazon
Measuring Cups
$18 At Bon Appétit Market
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Chef's Knife
$61 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Small Bowl
$18 At Amazon
Medium Bowl
$29 At Amazon
Whisk
$12 $10 At Amazon
Spoon
$24.69 At Amazon
Microplane
$17 At Amazon
Large Bowl
$25 At Amazon
Electric Mixer
$50 $40 At Amazon
Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Cake Tester
$5 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 9
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Place rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Lightly butter an 8x8" or 9x9" baking pan, then line with overlapping pieces of parchment paper, leaving overhang on all 4 sides. Lightly butter parchment.
→ Unsure how to line your pan? Click here.
Step 2
Make the topping. Coarsely chop ½ cup (63 g) raw pecans or walnuts. Combine ¾ cup (94 g) all-purpose flour, 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, ¼ cup (packed; 50 g) dark brown sugar, ½ tsp. ground ginger, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl. Using a fork or your fingers, smash butter into dry ingredients until mixture is homogeneous and no streaks of butter remain. Add pecans and mix until clumps form. Cover and chill streusel while you make the batter.
Step 3
Whisk 1 tsp. baking powder, ¼ tsp. baking soda, remaining 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour, and remaining ¾ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl. (You can also do this in an airtight container—just combine everything, cover, and shake!)
Step 4
Peel one 2" piece ginger (a spoon makes this easy work). Using a Microplane, finely grate ginger into the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl if using a hand mixer. (Try to avoid adding any of the really stringy bits and compost those.) Add ⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar. If using a stand mixer, fit with paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until sugar is moist and fragrant and no large clumps remain. Add remaining 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, increase speed to medium-high, and beat, scraping down sides of bowl 2–3 times, until very pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Step 5
Add 2 large eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed 1 minute after each addition. Mix in ½ cup sour cream and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Scrape down sides of bowl and beat once more to make sure batter is smooth and homogenous (don’t worry if it looks curdled). Add dry ingredients and beat on low speed until nearly incorporated. Add 2½ cups (325 g) fresh or frozen conventional or wild blueberries and fold into batter with a rubber spatula. The batter will be very thick, especially if you’re using frozen berries. Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly with spatula (you might have to use some force).
Step 6
Sprinkle reserved streusel over batter, squeezing the topping between your hands if you want bigger clumps and breaking them up if you want smaller ones.
Step 7
Bake buckle until streusel is golden brown all over and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 55–60 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan. Using parchment overhang, hoist buckle out of pan and cut into 9 squares.
