Cherry Berry Buckle

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...While many folks save warm berry desserts for the dead of winter, I tend to serve them whenever our favorite fruits appear in the market. More often than not, I'll make a crisp or crumble, but every so often I'll break ranks and make a buckle. A buckle layers a more traditional, cakey batter underneath the fruit rather than on top of it. As the dessert cooks, the cake rises around the fruit, which tries its best to sink to the bottom, making the whole thing buckle inwards. When it's served warm with a scoop of ice cream or dollop of cream, it is a memorable, if simple dessert. Although they were not grown locally, I saw some gorgeous sweet cherries in our market and couldn't resist buying them. In truth, this dessert could be made with any combination of fruit, but it is especially good when made with the cherries. The only trick to making this buckle is to keep the quantity of fruit used to 3 cups. If you go too much over that quantity, the cake will be damp and soggy and you'll be disappointed with the result and unhappy with me. I found the recipe for the buckle in Eating Well magazine, and if you skin through the ingredient list, you'll see it is marginally better for you than others of its ilk. I hope you'll keep this recipe in mind when local berries hit the market. The buckle is a lovely old-fashioned dessert that I know your family will enjoy. Here is how it's made.

Plum Buckle

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Tucked into that corner of the world occupied by crisps, cobblers and grunts, is yet another treasure called a buckle. The buckle is a rich butter cake that's topped with fruit. It gets its name because the surface of the cake appears to buckle as the cake batter rises around the topping. I think the best and most delicious version of this cake is made with plums. It tastes like a Viennese kuchen but it is much easier to prepare. While I serve this cake for breakfast or for brunch, it also makes a wonderful dessert. It is quite simple to do, though you should be aware there is one irritating problem associated with the cake. It's done when it chooses to be done and the time it requires to bake is variable. Some days the cake bakes in less than an hour, other days it takes more time. I suspect the amount of moisture in the fruit explains the discrepancy but you'll be fine, as long as you keep the cake in the oven until you are sure its center is set. This is a cake that is best served warm and eaten on the day it is made. It stales quickly. This is a treasure that I hope you will try. Here's the recipe.

Plum Buckle...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Sunset Magazine

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 small lemon
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup milk
4 cups sliced unpeeled firm-ripe plums (about 4 large)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8 x 8 x 2-inch pyrex pan. Set aside.
2) Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat at high speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel.
3) Combine flour, baking powder,salt and nutmeg in another bowl. Whisk to combine. Stir half the flour mixture into butter mixture , then add milk followed with remainder of flour mixture. Stir just until incorporated. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Overlap plum slices on top of batter. Combine reserved 2 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon and mace. Sprinkle over plums.
4) Bake in a 325 degree oven until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes (it may take longer than this) . Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 9 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Plum and Hazelnut Crumble Slice - The English Kitchen
Cinnamon Streusel Plum Cake - My Kitchen in the Rockies
Plum Galette/Plum Crostada - My Kitchen Snippets
Plum and Cherry Compote - Nami Nami
Plum Tart - Being Suzy Homemaker
Plum Cardamom Ice Cream - Cristine Cooks