According to King Arthur Flour, a buckle has berries, while a coffeecake is simply a cake to be eaten with coffee. Obviously this is both!

You might not want to walk away from it once it is done, or you may return to the horror scene above. Someone couldn’t wait for the baker to join them.

My mother found this recipe, long ago, way back in the 1970s in a church cookbook and it became a family favorite. Now I’m passing it on, though one child seems resistant to its charms.

Enjoy!

Preheat oven to 350, spray an 8″ square pan, place a square of parchment in the bottom

Recipe

Streusel Topping:

• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 c. flour

Cake:

• 3/4 c. sugar
• 6 TBS. butter
• 1 egg
• 2 C. flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1 1/2 c. blueberries (also excellent with apples!)

Mix the streusel topping ingredients in a small bowl. You can use a fork, a pastry cutter, or your hands to break up the butter and mix it with the dry ingredients until it resembles lumpy sand. If it’s hot in your kitchen you will want cold butter.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Cream the sugar and butter together. Add the egg. Alternate between dry ingredients and milk, ending with the dry ingredients. Before the dry ingredients are fully incorporated, add the blueberries. Mix the berries and the flour into the batter. It will be thick.

A brief word on blueberries: I used frozen, do not defrost, just pour them in. The cake will take slightly longer to bake. If fresh berries are available go for it. They work well.

Spoon batter into the pan and even it out. Then add the topping evenly over the top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.