LBI & Blueberry Buckle

Just a few miles from the iconic Old Barney lighthouse, my family has a shore house on Long Beach Island. (Thanks to MTV, you probably already know that "shore" means beach, but let me be clear that Long Beach Island is nothing like what you see on television!) LBI is a narrow, 18-mile long barrier island off the coast of New Jersey and is a family friendly shore community. Made up of small towns that each have their own character, the island is bordered on one side by Barnegat Bay and the other by the Atlantic Ocean. The beaches are clean and beautiful and full of my childhood memories. There's only one way on and off the island and something special about driving over the bridge and leaving your worries on the mainland. 

Summer holidays are always spent at the shore and this Labor Day was no exception. Having spent most of the month of August traveling abroad (more on that in future posts), I couldn't wait to get there and just relax! Accordingly, I decided to skip packing the "going out" clothes (though LBI does have a fun bar scene), in favor of a bathing suit, a good read, and...Blueberry Buckle.

Blueberry Buckle is similar to a blueberry crumb cake and is the perfect treat to bring down the shore. It's a favorite of my uncle (who lives across the street), great for breakfast or dessert (with homemade vanilla gelato, courtesy of my aunt), and filled with blueberries grown right in the state of NJ. (Yes, there's a reason it's called the Garden State and in the summer that reason involves corn, tomatoes, and blueberries!)

The recipe is modified ever so slightly from the Firelight Blueberry Buckle on Pamela Lanier's Bed and Breakfast Inns website:

Yield: 9 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup Sugar

1 Egg, room temperature

1 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Ground Nutmeg

1/2 cup Milk

2 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries

Topping:

1/2 cup Sugar

1/3 cup Flour

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) Unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease 8x8 pan. 

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in egg. In a separate bowl, combine flower, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Add the flower mixture to the butter and sugar, alternating with the milk, and scraping the sides of the bowl. Gently fold in blueberries. Pour into pan. 

Combine topping ingredients in a small bowl and cut in butter. Sprinkle evenly over batter.

Bake 50 minutes.

 (Dust with powdered sugar before serving.)

 (The original recipes calls for one pint of blueberries, but the extra half cup in this version means that there are plenty in every slice and bite!)

DISTANCE TRAVELED TO LBI FROM PHILADELPHIA: 92 miles

http://www.visitnj.org/long-beach-island