A buckle is a fruit-studded cake with a buttery crumb topping. It’s a great breakfast treat, an excellent midday sweet alongside tea or coffee, or a casual, not-too-heavy after-dinner dessert.
To give their buckle holiday appeal, the cooks at Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street add sweet-tart cranberries and warming candied ginger. Instead of making an entirely separate crumb topping, part of the flour-sugar-butter base mixture is combined with a few additional ingredients. It creates a batter that bakes up with just the right crumb texture. The remainder is pulsed with almonds, brown sugar, and a little more butter to make the streusel topping.
A buckle is a fruit-studded cake with a buttery crumb topping; it’s a great breakfast treat, an excellent midday sweet alongside tea or coffee, or a casual, not-too-heavy after-dinner dessert.
In this recipe from our cookbook “ Milk Street Bakes,” we give our version holiday appeal with pops of sweet-tart cranberries, finely chopped crystalized ginger and ground cinnamon.
Instead of making an entirely separate crumb topping, we streamline the process by using a food processor to make a coarse flour-sugar-butter base that we then divide, pulsing almonds, brown sugar and a bit more butter into one portion to make the streusel topping. The rest of the base is gently combined by hand with the wet ingredients. Sour cream adds moisture and tang without rendering the batter too wet. We also add candied ginger, which lends peppery-spicy notes to complement the cranberries.
Don’t forget to thaw the cranberries if using frozen. If the fruits are freezer-cold, they will cause the batter to stiffen, which will make mixing difficult.
Bake until the topping is golden brown, then let cool on wire rack for 30 minutes to help the crumb set and ensure it slices cleanly. The finished buckle is decadent, yet surprisingly light. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired. Covered tightly, leftovers keep for up to three days at room temperature.
Cranberry and Candied Ginger Buckle
Start to finish: 1 hour 10 minutes (30 minutes active), plus cooling
Servings: 12
390 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
214 grams (1 cup) white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon table salt
170 grams (12 tablespoons), plus 2 tablespoons cold salted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes, reserved separately
42 grams (3 tablespoons) packed dark brown sugar
31 grams (1/3 cup) sliced almonds
3 large eggs
240 grams (1 cup) sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
12-ounce bag fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (3 cups)
68 grams (½ cup) finely chopped crystallized ginger
Powdered sugar, to serve (optional)
Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the middle position. Mist a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray, dust evenly with flour, then tap out the excess.
In a food processor, combine the flour, white sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Pulse until well combined, 6 to 8 pulses. Scatter the 12 tablespoons butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 20 pulses. Transfer to a large bowl, then measure out 165 grams (1 cup) of the mixture and return it to the food processor. To the food processor, add the brown sugar, almonds and remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then pulse until the mixture begins to clump and resembles wet sand, about 20 pulses; transfer to a medium bowl and set aside.
In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Pour into the large bowl of flour-butter mixture and fold the batter with a silicone spatula until only a few streaks of flour remain. Add the cranberries and crystallized ginger, then fold until evenly distributed; the batter will be thick. Transfer to the prepared pan and spread in an even layer.
Using your hands, squeeze the almond-flour mixture into rough ½-inch clumps, then scatter evenly over the batter in the pan. Bake until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving, if desired.