September is such a beautiful month. It starts as Summer—all green, with warm breezes—and it ends as Fall with early sunsets, golden corn fields, and with the tips of trees suggesting their Autumn colors.
Just as we gather the last produce of our summer gardens, the orchard and pumpkin fields brim with a bountiful harvest. Apples fill the branches of our orchard trees, and when you bite into your first apple of the season, it just can’t be beat.
Our Weaver’s Cortland apples are freshly picked and available now. Cortlands are a distinguished fruit with a dusky skin, a firm and crunchy texture, and a bold, semi-tart flavor. You’ll find their pairing with sweet, ripe blackberries in this recipe a delight. Interestingly enough, a buckle is a bit different than a cake, because buckles add fruit to the top of the raw batter just before it bakes. This allows the fruit to sink into the cake and release its juices in pockets, which also gives this scrumptious little cake a homey appearance as it’s served from the pan or cast-iron skillet.
With this particular recipe, I cheated a bit because the blackberries are added to the top (as in a buckle), but the apples are mixed into the cake to create a moist crumb and a bright flavor within. A bit of a buckle, a bit of a cake. So, stay cozy this September with your favorite hot beverage and a slice of this tasty Blackberry Apple Buckle made from the last flavors of Summer and the first flavors of Fall.
Check out our Pick-Your-Own schedule here for available apple varieties and our PYO and Market hours!
PrintBlackberry Apple Buckle
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Bake Time: 50-60 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
- Yield: 8–12 servings 1x
- Category: Apples, Berries, Breakfast, Dessert, Recipes
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. fine sea salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 1 Weaver’s Orchard Cortland Apple, peeled and cubed
- ½ pint Weaver’s Orchard Blackberries, washed
Topping
- Raw sugar
- Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and butter an 8 inch square cake pan well.
- In a small mixing bowl, sift and whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and gradually add sugar until whipped well and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and beat until fully combined.
- Wash fruit, then peel and cube the Cortland apple (note: use one medium or ½ of a large apple). Set aside.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Next, add the apple pieces and mix.
- Spoon the cake batter into the cake pan and spread to the edges of the pan. Next, press the blackberries onto the surface of the cake (neat lines is one suggested pattern). Finally, sprinkle raw sugar and cinnamon atop the cake before popping it into the oven.
- Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve out of the pan and enjoy!
Keywords: Apple, Blackberry, Buckle, Cake, Breakfast, Dessert