Enjoy fresh summer berries in this easy Red, White and Blueberry Buckle! The moist cake is piled high with cinnamon streusel topping, making it a perfect vehicle for vanilla ice cream or whipped cream at your next potluck. Whether you're looking for a Memorial Day breakfast or a Fourth of July dessert, this special treat is a simple addition to your festive menu!
You're probably familiar with a fruit crisp or a berry cobbler, but have you ever tried a buckle?! And no -- I'm not referring to your belt!
What is a Buckle in Baking?
I like to think of this treat as pie's "rustic" cousin!
Buckle is a member of the cobbler family, but a coffee cake batter forms the base of the dish (rather than biscuit or pie dough). The cake batter is mixed with fresh fruit and finished with a crumbly streusel topping, which is baked until golden brown.
Whether you consider it a coffee cake and enjoy it for breakfast, or a dessert and serve it at a summer gathering with family and friends, you cannot go wrong with an old-fashioned Strawberry and Blueberry Buckle. The cake batter is moist and flavorful (thanks to all of that fruit!), and the crumb topping is to-die-for!
Plus, the blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream give my Old-Fashioned Buckle a festive touch that's perfect for the upcoming Memorial Day or Fourth of July holidays!
Why is it called a Buckle?
Good question! I was wondering the same thing, so I did a little bit of quick research.
It turns out that the easy dessert recipe is called a buckle because the streusel topping and the berries in this moist fruit cake weigh down the batter as it bakes, causing the top to look "buckled."
That explanation sounds as good as any other that I could dream up; however, I will say -- there's nothing flat or "weighed down" about this fluffy, thick red, white and blue cake!
More easy recipes that take advantage of fresh summer berries:
- Best Blackberry Cobbler
- Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins
- Strawberry Muffins
- Healthy Blueberry Peach Cobbler
Red White and Blueberry Buckle
Ingredients
For the Cake Batter:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup softened butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 cup blueberries*
- 1 cup diced strawberries
For the Topping:
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup cold butter cubed
- For Serving: whipped cream or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Prepare the batter:
- Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and eggs on high speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.
- Turn the mixer to low speed, and gradually add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, just until combined.
- Gently fold in the blueberries and strawberries.
- Pour batter into prepared baking dish.
Prepare the Crumb Topping:
- Place flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly.
- Sprinkle crumb topping over batter.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
What a beautiful cake! I really need to make a buckle cake soon as I haven’t made one in so long!
Thanks, Kristy! I hope that you get to enjoy one soon! 🙂
Thanks for this recipe.I had a recipe for. One but it got lost in our house firer
Oh, good! I'm so glad that you can enjoy it again! xoxo
Love this!
I would like to repost it on my blog.
http://www.motownsavvy.com
Please contact me, and give me photo credits. I will redirect to your site!
Hi, Carla! You can feel free to share the link and a photo, but please don't repost the entire recipe on your site. So glad you like it! 🙂