Ginger Blackberry Buckle

Growing up, the house I lived in had lots of blueberry bushes in the backyard. We had lots of blueberries around and I can recall having all sorts of crisps, slumps, buckles, etc. growing up. I was sure that I had had blueberry buckle before, but I don’t recall that it was quite like this recipe. I saw this recipe on The Novice Chef and it looked so good that I wanted to try it as soon as possible.

After making the Chocolate Cake with Blackberry Jam Buttercream, I had blackberries left over. I figured that this buckle would work with any sort of berries, so I thought I would give this a shot. My berries were so enormous that I had to cut them in half. In the spirit of trying to use up what I had on hand, I thought about what I could substitute for ginger. I had ground ginger and candied ginger around so I thought that it would work. The sweetness of the berries paired with the spiciness of ginger sounded really good to me.

This is a fairly simple cake and a crumb topping, which allow the berries to shine through. The blackberries in this were great, but I think that the ginger was the star here. It was especially good when you got a bite with the candied ginger. This cake also kept fairly well, which is a nice change from most fruit desserts that you have to serve right away. This cake would be perfect for breakfast, or serve it with ice cream for a fancier dessert. Any way you slice it, this is a great way to use up summer berries.

Ginger Blackberry Buckle

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
¼ cup finely chopped candied ginger
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups blackberries, divided

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and ginger. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the mixture. Using your fingers, cut in the butter until it is reduced to the size of peas. Loosely cover the bowl, and place it in the freezer while you mix the cake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

In small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and ground ginger. In a large mixer bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Stir the flour mixture into the bowl, a third at a time, alternating with the oil, until both the flour mixture and oil are evenly incorporated into the batter. Stir in the candied ginger. Gently fold 1 cup of the blackberries into the batter.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan and distribute the remaining blackberries evenly over the top of the batter. Remove the crumb topping from the freezer and sprinkle it over the berries.

Bake the cake until it is lightly golden and firm on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Recipe adapted from The Novice Chef