Blueberry Corn Buckle with Coconut Sugar & Sourdough
I am a huge fan of Substack - so many great writers, including a number of food writers that I only discovered through Substack. One such author is Susan Spungen - Susan is a great resource for seasonal and reliably delicious recipes. Susan recently shared a recipe for her Blueberry Corn Buckle and I happened to have a large bounty of blueberries and some corn on hand so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try it out and I sure am glad I did!
I made a few adaptations to this recipe. For starters, instead of using yogurt/sour cream, I decided to use sourdough starter discard but you can stick with yogurt/sour cream if you don’t have any sourdough starter on hand. I then naturally sweetened it by (1) using coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar (and reducing the amount) and (2) removing the turbinado sugar topping since I thought it was sweet enough without it.
For those who may not be familiar with coconut sugar, it is the dehydrated and boiled sap of the coconut palm flower. Because coconut sugar goes through minimal processing, it retains many of its inherent antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals - especially in comparison to the standard granulated white or brown sugars, which are heavily processed. For those of you who may not be a big fan of coconut, I just want to note that the coconut sugar does not have a noticeable coconut flavor. Instead, it just adds a nice light nutty almost brown sugar-ish flavor to this cake and other baked goods.
This cake is definitely worth trying - the copious amounts of blueberries on top almost turn into a delicious jammy texture and the corn adds moisture to the cake so that it tastes light and fluffy. Enjoy!
Makes one 10-inch cake
Ingredients
113 g (1/2 cup, 1 stick) unsalted butter
115 g coconut sugar
160 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
110 g sourdough starter discard
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ear of corn, shucked and then grated (use a box grater; there will be some liquid and you will want to mix that liquid in as well - see step 4 below)
300 g blueberries
Directions
Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Heat a 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat and add the butter. Swirl the pan or stir frequently until the butter turns slightly brown and smells nutty and toasty - usually about 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Keep the skillet on standby for now.
In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Going back to the bowl with the now slightly cooled butter, add the eggs, sourdough starter discard, vanilla, and grated corn and whisk together. Then add the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.
Transfer the batter to the skillet and top with the blueberries. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out and clean.
