Macheesmo

Baking can be hard. Things like croissants, fancy cakes, and other intricate treats have baffled me along with many others. Even though I try to make these things if I’m feeling spry, I always know that my efforts will probably fall a bit short of the professionals.

I’ll most likely just be adding to my fail category.

Then there is the buckle.

If you are someone that has never baked a damn thing in your life (or if you just need a confidence booster), this Raspberry Buckle is the dessert for you.

You stir a basic batter together (some mix between a cake and a cookie), plop it in a buttered baking dish, add a few handfuls of fresh berries, and lay back and enjoy.

I think it’s the easiest, most failsafe dessert on this website.

Cornmeal Raspberry Buckle

by Nick

Serves:

Serves 6

Prep Time:

15 mins

Total Time:

1 hr 20 mins

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Simple cornmeal buckle, not too sweet, studded with summer fresh raspberries. Change up the basic recipe with any fresh berries you like!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fine cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 pint fresh raspberries, washed and dried

Powdered sugar

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder.

2) In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to cream together butter and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then beat in one egg at a time followed by vanilla extract.

3) Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.

4) Lightly butter a large 2 1/2 qt. baking dish (or an 8×8 baking dish). Spread batter into dish evenly. Dot evenly with raspberries.

5) Bake the buckle at 350 degrees For 45-50 minutes until the center is set and the edges are browned.

6) Let cool for 15 minutes, then dust heavily with powdered sugar and serve while warm.

Raspberry Buckle

Let’s Talk Berries

Raspberries won the poll last week so that’s what I used for this buckle. They also happen to be Betsy’s favorite (happy wife happy life).

This time of year you should be able to find beautiful raspberries.

The truth is that you can use any small berry for this though. Blueberries are the most obvious substitution but any small berry will get the job done.

Be sure the berries are very clean and very dry before you add them to the dessert.

A Simple Batter

This batter starts off a lot like a cookie dough. Cream together some butter with a mix of brown sugar and white sugar. You could use all white sugar but I think the brown sugar addition lends some extra richness.

Use a hand mixer to cream together the butter and sugars until it’s light and fluffy and then start adding the eggs one at a time.

To be honest, I probably should’ve creamed my sugar a bit more as there are still some chunks in there. It should be a smooth mixture.

When all the eggs are added, then stir in the vanilla extract followed by all the dry ingredients (mixed separately first).

Then just scoop this into a lightly buttered dish and spread it out.

One quick note on the cornmeal. It’s not a traditional buckle ingredient, but I like that it gives the finished dessert some crunch. If you don’t want to use it, increase the flour to a full cup.

I like to use a 2 1/2 qt. baking dish for this, but you could also use a square 8×8 baking dish.

Spread the batter into an even layer in the pan and then dot the batter with the fresh berries.

You might think that the Raspberry Buckle batter is a bit thick, but remember that as these berries bake they are going to give off a ton of liquid and that will help keep the buckle moist.

Baking the Buckle

Because of the moisture in the berries, the Raspberry Buckle will need to bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Then you’ll have this beauty of a thing.

Let it cool for 15 minutes or so and then dust it heavily with powdered sugar. Serve up a big hunk of it to each of your lucky guests.

I won’t tell how easy it is to make if you don’t.

This Raspberry Buckle is just great as a stand alone dessert, but you could serve it with some ice cream on a hot day or even just a drizzle of honey.

The buckle is failsafe.

Bake the buckle.