A Little Taste of Summer
June 29, 2006
Summer is officially here and Adam's Farm Market in Williston has proof
positive: loads of native strawberries just waiting to find their way into
ice cream, pie, jams, and my personal favorite, yummy summer coffee cakes.
There is something old fashioned and comforting about a fresh fruit buckle.
I like to get up early, pop one in the oven, and then take my dogs for
walk while it bakes. I set my coffee maker on the automatic timer and return
to the irresistible aromas of fresh cake and coffee. It smells so good
my teenagers actually wake up earlier– just in time to share a little
taste of summer before we scatter for the day.
Summer Strawberry Buckle
• 2 cups white flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• one half teaspoon salt
• 2 ounces soft unsalted butter
• three–fourths cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest (optional)
• one half cup milk
• 2 cups hulled and chopped fresh strawberries tossed with
2 tablespoons flour
(feel free to substitute raspberries or blueberries)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a Pyrex glass pie dish with cooking spray. In a small mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a larger mixing bowl beat butter with sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in egg and orange zest. Add half the flour mixture and half the milk and combine with a wooden spoon. Repeat with remaining milk and flour. Gently fold in strawberries, scattering throughout batter. Pour the stiff batter into prepared dish and move it around gently with a fork until evenly spread. Cover surface with streusel topping.
Streusel Topping
• one half cup chopped almonds,
• 2 ounces soft unsalted butter
• one half cup sugar
• one third cup flour
• one half teaspoon cinnamon
Combine ingredients with a fork until a crumbly mixture forms, sprinkle over batter.
Bake buckle for 55 minutes at 375 degrees.
Kim Dannies is a graduate of La Varenne Cooking School in France. She lives in Williston, VT with her husband, Jeff, and three college–aged daughters who come and go. ©2008