DARCI HANNAH: Here in Michigan, August is the heart of blueberry season, and I can’t go through a summer without using these delicious, flavorful berries in nearly everything I make. Another benefit is that blueberries are a superfood. Not only do they taste great, but they also contain high levels of antioxidants and help improve heart health, brain function, and blood sugar. There’s no reason not to eat them up!
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Last summer when I was visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Seattle, we discovered that they had several beautiful blueberry bushes growing in their yard. Since they had moved into the house in the late fall, and had their first baby that July, the kids were so busy that the blueberry bushes were a surprise to them too. It was a wonderful discovery, and I went on a blueberry scone making binge while visiting my little grandson. When he’s old enough, I’m going to hand him a little bucket and we’re going to go blueberry picking in his yard. I would hand him an old, large coffee can, like the one I used to use, but my Seattle kids are what I call coffee snobs. They don’t drink the kind of coffee that comes in a can. They serve delicious coffee instead! I really wanted to make Blueberry Buckle for them too, but I had left that recipe at home. I’m including it here so that you can make this delicious blueberry coffeecake.
Blueberry Buckle
Prep time: 20 minutes. Cook time: 50 minutes.
Ingredients for crumble topping:
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup cold butter, cut in small cubes
Ingredients for the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup (1 stick) butter
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed, and dried.
1 tablespoon lemon juice (for blueberries)
1 tablespoon flour (for blueberries)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour sides of a 10-inch spring form and line the bottom with parchment paper. This will make cake much easier to release once baked.
In a medium bowl combine washed and dried blueberries with the lemon juice, then toss with one tablespoon of flour. This will help prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the batter as it bakes.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. In a medium bowl combine the flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternating with milk, being careful not to over mix. Fold in blueberries and immediately spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.
Make the crumble topping by mixing the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Next, cut in the cold butter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle crumble topping evenly over top of batter and put in oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes. Remove cake from pan and enjoy!
*Note: my blueberries all sank to the bottom of my Blueberry Buckle. Try placing them on top just under the crumble topping. They will slowly sink as they bake.
Print a copy of my Blueberry Buckle Here!
Do you like blueberries? What is your favorite way to eat them?
Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you.
Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com
Instagram: @authordarcihannah
Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah
Murder at the Campfire Cookout
By Darci Hannah
Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series
When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .
Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.
Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.
But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .
Because no one is out of the woods yet.
A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle
By Darci Hannah
Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series
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When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .
Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well.
After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .
Coming February 23, 2027!
A TOAST TO AGATHA CHRISTIE'S GHOST
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The cast and crew are on Burgh Island, at a restored Art Deco hotel that boasts Agatha Christie as its most famous guest—and now its most famous ghost. They’re filming at a murder-mystery weekend, and Bunny expects it to be more kooky than spooky. But she’s excited to meet the renowned resident chef and delighted to run into her Granny Mac playing the role of Miss Marple. As a bonus, her romance with costar Brett continues to simmer.
The downside is dealing with arrogant guests like Buckley Thorne, who sends back her beetroot salad and demands whipped cream for her peach Melba. Then the show’s phony psychic, Giff, insists on playing Poirot, complete with an absurdly bad accent. When it turns out the victim role is assigned to Buckley Thorne, she feels a touch of satisfaction—until she realizes he’s doing too good a job of playing dead . . .
Shocked to learn Buckley’s true identity, Bunny has to change course once again from cook to crime-solver. She’d sensed an undercurrent of drama at the dead man’s table—and with help from the spirit of the world’s greatest mystery writer, she’s looking closely at the victim’s handsome son, much-younger wife, and elegant circle of friends to conjure up a solution . . .
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