black forest buckle
What is a buckle cake and how is it different from regular ole coffee cake, you ask?
According to my literary adventures, not a whole awful lot.
Buckles are one brand of dessert that belongs to the family of crisps, crumbles, and apparently “grunts.” The cake is fruity by nature, often comprised of blueberries, and contains a streusel topping to lend a dented or “buckled” appearance. It seemed to have derived from Southern style baking traditions.
How about that? Thanks, Martha, for the breakdown.
I rejected typical and made us a Black Forest Buckle for this week’s sweet treat. If you’re unfamiliar, Black Forest is usually a big fat cake smothered in cherries, chocolate, and kirsch, or cherry brandy. This cake is free of alcohol but hinted with cinnamon, a bit of cardamom, and almond extract, for an ultra luxurious morning or afternoon nibble. It’s remarkably easy to make and satisfying to share.
First Steps
Don’t buckle under pressure – this cake is pretty hard to flub. You only need one bowl for the base batter. So simple!
Get your eggs in a basket and bring them to room temperature. I usually set them out for an hour or so while I go out and run errands. When you’re ready to bake, melt a stick of butter in the microwave and let it cool for about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs, some brown sugar, milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract until silky and free of clumps. Then, stir in all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until free of streaks. The batter is thick, almost like cookie dough. That is expected and encouraged!
Spray a springform pan with butter or oil. Dump the batter into the pan, grease your spatula, and spread it as evenly as you can manage from wall to wall.
Cherries Jubilee
If you’re smart, you’ll buy cherries pre-halved and pitted, but I am not smart. This part took the longest out of the whole recipe, basically. I had to split and pit the cherries myself, resulting in a bit slop of cherry juice all over my fingers. Tasted delicious, but somewhat of a pain. Give yourself some extra time if you need to perform this step. It’s well worth it, however, even if a touch inconvenient.
Toss the cherries with a touch of orange zest for some, well, zestiness. Sprinkle the fruits evenly over the prepared batter. Fill in the gaps with a good heap of mini chocolate chips – I find the mini ones incorporate easier without sinking into the bottom of the cake after baking since they’re less dense than the big honkers.
To finish, mix together another 4 tablespoons of melted and cooled butter, some flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom until a crumbly streusel forms. Dot the streusel on top of all the drool-worthy fruit and chocolate.
Bake the cake about 40-45 minutes. Be patient, fellas. I used a toothpick to gauge the doneness and felt the cake was complete when only a few little crumbs detached from the center of the cake.
Buck yeah.
When baked, the cherries become slightly jammy but not liquid, the chocolate chips melt just enough without turning to slop, and the streusel is just big flecks of yum. I find it odd how cherries taste more like cherries when cooked. Does that make sense? They morph into the tart juicy rounds as oft described, whereas fresh cherries, while my favorite, don’t really taste like cherry flavor denotes.
Whatever. Either way, this cake is equal parts tart, sweet, soft, and spicy. An incredible treat with coffee or for breakfast.
I’m actually a bit regretful that summer produce errs on its closing act. While I adore all thinks pumpkin and cider, I’ve had lots of fun playing with stone fruits and citrus and all manner of hot weather fruits and veggies.
The Cherry Cordial Martini is one of my top creations, and probably these Bursting Blueberry Lime Cupcakes and the popular Almond Blackberry Cake.
On the savory side, let’s talk Marinated Grilled Summer Vegetable Charcuterie Board and Skillet Honey Balsamic Peach Salmon with Burst Tomatoes & Feta.
I’m thinking autumn commands some breakfast recipes. What do you think? I’m also considering making Snack Board Saturday a thing, largely out of its ease of creation post marathon training long run. Give me some feedback! What would you like to see?
Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Ingredients
- 1 stick butter (1/2 cup), melted
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen cherries, halved and pits removed
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
- 2 tsp orange zest
streusel
- 4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a springform pan well with butter or oil.
- In a small bowl, toss the halved cherries with the orange zest.
- In a bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and almond extract, until smooth and incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir until just combined. Batter will be very thick! With a greased spatula, pour and spread the batter into the prepared springform pan, making an even layer.
- To make the streusel, cut the melted butter with the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom, until a thick and crumbly texture forms.
- Sprinkle cherry mixture atop the batter, then add the mini chocolate chips. Finish by evenly spreading the streusel overtop. Bake 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center removes with just a few moist crumbs. Cool 5-10 minutes in the pan. Release the sides of the springform and set the cake onto a wire rack to cool an additional 5-10 minutes, or longer if you desire.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
