In anticipation of the National Blueberry Festival Washington Post Food Writer Kim O'Donnel and I would be attending, I decided to devise a gluten-free Blueberry Buckle recipe. What could honor the blueberry more than a good southern Blueberry Buckle?

I met up with Kim in Detroit on Wednesday and brought the Buckle with me to share. Having made it the day before, and wanting to travel with the leftovers as breakfast for the next several days, I was grateful for the Expandex® Modified Tapioca Starch in my pre-mixed Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour. It is Thursday already and I'm happy to say that hot car and no refrigeration 3 days later the Buckle is still delicious! I doubt it will last much longer, but that's just because we're going to eat it all!!!

Blueberry Buckle – an old fashioned treasure!

The Blueberry Buckle is an old-timey favorite in the coffee cake family – a single layer cake with a struesel-type topping. As the cake bakes, some of the topping sinks to the bottom of the pan, which makes the streusel “buckle” on top. A great way to celebrate the healthy, delicious blueberries that are now in season!

Cake ingredients:

4 cups and 2 Tbs. of Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour

2 Tbs gluten-free baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (I actually used dairy-free Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)

1 1/2 cups granulated cane sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups milk (I used vanilla soy milk - yum!)

4 cups fresh blueberries

Topping ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (I used dairy-free Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)

1 cup granulated cane sugar

2/3 cup Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees or 350 degrees for convection.

Oil a 9 inch springform pan and put any extra in a small oiled 6 inch square baking pan or casserole.

Combine the 4 cups of Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, approximately 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk. Toss the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour and fold in. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Set aside.

Combine ingredients for the topping with a fork to make a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle evenly over the batter.

Bake small pan for approximately 40 minutes and the springform for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of each pan comes out clean (some of the streusel may still stick to the tester and that is ok).

Light and Healthy Summer Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1 tsp. gluten-free vanilla extract
3 cups Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour
1 Tbs. cinnamon
1 Tbs. gluten-free baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups fresh grated zucchini
1 envelope unflavored gelatin (vegan options like Natural Desserts' Unflavored Jel Dessert work fine)
½ cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 F (static) or 300F (convection).

Sift all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Beat the eggs until foamy, adding sugar and applesauce until well blended. Add the sifted dry ingredients. Fold in the grated zucchini until well blended. Add nuts.
If baking as loaves, grease two large loaf pans or 6 small loaf pans, filling each 1/2 full. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes for large loaves, approximately 40 minutes for the smaller loaves, testing to be sure the middle is cooked through. If baking as muffins, grease and 1/2 fill 24 muffin tins. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, testing to be sure the middle is cooked through.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake—more of the magical powers of zucchini!

If you are still recovering from an over-indulgence of 4th of July treats, here is a scrumptious dessert you don't have to feel so bad about. I'm still loving the fact that I can hit a great local farmer's market once a week, so I look for any excuse to use my fresh veggies and fruits in my baking. You might not think that zucchini and dessert could marry so well, but wait until you taste this amazing chocolate cake! This chocolate cake contains health benefits that you can't even taste--talk about having your cake and eating it too! The glaze on top is a delicious alternative to traditional frosting and I made the whole thing dairy-free!

This light, subtly sweet cake is sure to be a hit for you this summer. In fact, in the words of my son's playdate (age 8) pointing to this cake, “I don't know if there's gluten in that or not, but that chocolate cake is GOOD!”

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup cocoa

3 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 cup butter or Earth Balance Buttery Sticks

1 2/3 cups granulated cane sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla

2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey

1 tablespoon orange juice

2 1/2 cups coarsely shredded zucchini

1/2 cup milk or soy milk

Glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk or soy milk

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350o F.

Stir together Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.

With an electric mixer beat together the butter/buttery sticks and sugar until smoothly blended. Add eggs to the butter and sugar mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla, agave nectar, orange juice, and zucchini.

Alternately stir the mixed dry ingredients and the milk into the zucchini mixture.

Pour the batter into a greased and Nearly Normal All Purpose Flour-dusted 10-inch tube pan or bunt pan. Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test at 45 minutes) or until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

To make glaze, mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake after it has cooled at least slightly.

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Copyright Jules E. D. Shepard 2008. All rights reserved