Berries, Berries, and More Berries

Wasn't it Tigger that said "Berries, berries and more berries"? I seem to recall that line from a favorite Winnie The Pooh movie, Seasons of Giving, that my kids watch often.

Today we went Blueberry picking. When we pick, boy do we pick. The kids and I came home with almost 20lbs of Blueberries!!! I have 4 large pails full and the kids are inhaling them. How can a mom say no to them eating an abundance of Super food?

This afternoon I tackled bucket #1. With it, I froze 9 cups of blueberries, and made 3 Blueberry Buckles. They are cooking right now and the kitchen smells to die for! I did pick too many, so I have offered some to a friend who is gifting me with a 3 foot long monster Zucchini. Don't ask me what I'm doing with that yet, I have to mentally prepare for it.

Blueberry Buckle

Cake batter:

• 3/4 cup sugar
  
  
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups flour all-purpose
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 2 and 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Step 1 - Wash the blueberries

Just rinse them in a colander or sieve in cold water, no soap.

Now is also a good time to get the oven preheating to 375 F.

Step 2 - Mix the dry ingredients

Combine the 3/4 cup sugar, 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl and mix well!

Step 3 - Add the butter and the egg

Add the 1/4 cup soft butter, the egg and using a mixer (hand, electric, or just a large spoon, whatever you have) , mix it up!

Step 4 - Mix in the milk

Add the 1/2 cups milk and mix it up.

Step 5 - Add the flour

While mixing, stir in the 2 cups of flour! (it's just like making pancakes). It will end up like very thick pancake batter. You may have to finish mixing by hand . I added a splash of extra milk here, the batter was much too thick.

Step 6 - Add the blueberries and mix

Add the blueberries and gently mix it. You don't want to crush the berries, but it won't matter if some get crushed, either!

Step 7 - Grease and flour the pan(s)

This is pretty self explanatory

Step 8 - Pour the batter into the pan(s)

Just pour the batter into the the pans. It should only fill the pan about half way up! It WILL rise, don't worry!

Step 9 - Make the topping

Now to make the topping, in another bowl, mix together the topping ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup soft or melted butter or margarine

Step 10 - Sprinkle the crumb topping over the batter

Pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?

Step 11 - Put the coffee cake in the oven!

Cook the coffee cake at 375 F (or 190 Celsius) for 45 minutes.

Step 12 - Remove when the coffee cake is golden brown

After about 35 minutes, check to see if the top is golden brown. If if not, check every 3 or 4 minutes until it is

Enjoy!