chouxettes

Hey Devon,

Last year around this time I half put together this recipe for chouxettes... then time went by and it was past blueberry season, and I decided to hold off. This recipe is meant for this time of year, when you can get fresh, inexpensive blueberries. It’s pretty festive too, if you are into 4th of July themed foods.

My great grandmother made this recipe, in fact it is written in her very old copy of the Joy Of Cooking. She lived to be 101, and made this well into her 90s. Coincidentally her sister passed away this week at 101 also. Now my mom mainly carries on the tradition of blueberry buckle, I’d say we have it at least 4 times a summer. She makes it for parties, out of town visitors... birthday breakfasts (with a more traditional birthday cake later on).

For me, blueberry buckle tastes like summer, and must be eaten on a napkin, while standing up, in the kitchen of the beach house, trying to avoid crumbs going all over (its inevitable, and probably shouldn’t be eaten that way). The thing is, you have to eat standing up so that when you are done you can cut another oddly-shaped piece to disguise how much of the cake you are taking. It is typically gone within a couple hours, though in our defense there are a lot of people there, waiting to pounce on it.

You can double the recipe and make it in a 9”x13”, as pictured here.

Blueberry Buckle

Mix thoroughly:

¾ Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Soft Butter
1 Egg

Stir in:

½ C Milk

Sift together and stir in:

2 Cup Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
½ tsp Salt

Carefully blend in

2 Cups (well drained) Blueberries
(can sub in frozen in off season, just defrost and drain, though they will bleed more into the batter)

To make crumb topping, mash together with a fork until course crumbs are formed:

½ Cup Sugar
⅓ Cup Flour
½ tsp Cinnamon (I’d double that)
¼ Cup Soft Butter

Spread batter into a buttered and floured 9” square pan. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake at 375 Degrees for 40-45 minutes (I think around an hour if you double it). Cake is done when it feels solid and no batter sticks to a tooth pick, crumbs and blueberry mush are to be expected.

That’s Bea’s handwriting (my great-grandmother and middle-namesake).

Hope to see you soon,

Amanda