Buckwheat Berry Buckle -- The Fruit Forager's Companion -- #bookgiveaway

LESLIE: Our guest today, Sara Bir, is a delightful chef, cookbook author, and teacher whom I met, virtually, through a mutual friend who lives in my neck of the woods. When we chatted about possibilities for her guest post and she suggested a Buckwheat Berry Buckle, my mouth started to water. You don't even have to know what a buckle is to love it, do you? The name alone will do the trick. And Sara's gorgeous pictures and fun description seal the deal. Plus, you can use whatever berries you've got on hand, even if you confine your foraging to the garden or the farmer's market!

Talk berries to us in the comments for a chance to win a copy of her newest cookbook, The Fruit Forager’s Companion: Ferments, Desserts, Main Dishes, and More from Your Neighborhood and Beyond.

SARA BIR: I started foraging because I am nosy and cheap. I noticed free fruit, and I took it.

But I fell for foraging because of the mystery. I’d see trees in yards in my neighborhood and think, “What’s up with that tree? Why aren’t they harvesting those quince?” Or sometimes, “How are they able to grow figs in Zone 5?” And, occasionally, “What the heck is that fruit?” That’s how I found out about white mulberries. I didn’t know they came another way besides purple ones until I saw them. I put a few in my pocket and, once home, set about to research.

By observing plants over the seasons as I went about my daily walks, I was able, slowly, to solve those mysteries. Sometimes I’d give in and knock on a door—I always get permission before gathering fruit from any property—and I’d get into conversations I’d never have otherwise.

“My grandma used to make mulberry jam,” said one woman when I inquired about her white mulberry tree. (Grandparents often come up in conversations with strangers about weird fruit) White mulberries can be bland, but in my few snatched nibbles I’d found the berries from that specimen to have a nectared essence. We both tasted the berries, and soon she, too, was seeking out ripe ones, which stood out because they gain an almost iridescent purplish tint. And then we were just two people quietly picking mulberries, as if we’d done it together for years.

Another mystery can be what to do with this stuff once you get it home. The white mulberries I added to an elderflower cordial, since they had a complementary floral vibe. Black mulberries are a whole other ball of wax. Yes, they make a fine jam, but what berry doesn’t?

I’ve taken to baking with them, particularly in instances where their thin green stem is hidden under a top crust or mound of batter. I used them in this buckle, a rustic cake that’s part gooey cobbler, part giant muffin. But you can use most any berry, and the one that makes the most sense is what’s in season close to you.

Buckwheat Huckleberry Buckle

Serves 8 to 10

Buckwheat flour has a strong but sophisticated flavor. A little nutty and a little fruity, it goes great with berries. Here it adds mystique to a buckle, so named because the berries make the cake buckle in its center. Think of it as a giant muffin. I love this with a gob of plain yogurt at breakfast, or as a midday snack.

This recipe is flexible. If you don’t have buckwheat flour, sub an equal amount rye flour (it likewise flatters fruit) or just make it using only all-purpose flour. No huckleberries? Try raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries. I had black raspberries and mulberries in the freezer, so I used those. In scaling out my fruit, I discovered 435 grams of black raspberries and mulberries is, by volume, way more than the three cups listed in the recipe. But fruit is delicious, so I went with it. How did it turn out? See for yourself. The photo is all that’s left.

For the streusel:

1/2 cup (50 g) rolled oats

1/4 cup (45 g) buckwheat flour

1/2 cup (110 g) packed light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and at room temperature

For the cake:

1-1/4 cups (160 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (90 g) buckwheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon table salt

6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

150 grams (3/4 cup) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk

435 grams (3 cups) huckleberries

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F and set the rack in the middle. Grease a 9 x 9-inch pan. (Note: In the photo, I used an 11 x 7 dish. That’ll work, too—they both have a 2-1/2 quart capacity.)

Make the streusel: Combine the oats, buckwheat, brown sugar, nutmeg, salt, and butter in a medium bowl. With your fingertips, work the mixture until it’s crumbly. Set aside.

Make the cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.   

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until lightened, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each, and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in half of the huckleberries.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Scatter the remaining berries over the top, then the streusel. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool on a rack for at least 10 minutes before serving. Covered with plastic wrap, the buckle will keep for up to 2 days. After that, it tastes a little stale.

The above recipe is from Sara Bir’s book The Fruit Forager’s Companion: Ferments, Desserts, Main Dishes, and More from Your Neighborhood and Beyond (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018) and is reprinted with permission from the publisher. 

What fruit mysteries have you stumbled across in your daily journeys? Solving them is half the fun. I’d love to hear your fruit foraging adventures, whether they happened years ago or only yesterday. Share them in the comments for a chance to win a copy of my book, The Fruit Forager’s Companion: Ferments, Desserts, Main Dishes, and More from Your Neighborhood and Beyond . It’s a cookbook and foraging guide with harvesting tips, stories, and tons of lore about fruits that grow across North America—both everyday and esoteric. I’m thrilled to say it recently won an IACP Cookbook Award. Comment below with your email address for a shot at winning a copy (continental US only). The winner will be chosen Tues, Aug 14. 

More about The Fruit Forager’s Companion, from Publisher’s Weekly:

This charming and eminently useful guide from Paste magazine food editor and writer Bir deserves a spot on the bookshelf of any foraging foodie. Instead of serving up a simple list of fruits and vegetable with tips on canning, Bir weaves in personal anecdotes and trivia about, among other things, the advent of commercial pectin (patented in 1913) and the curious history of key limes (once pickled and served as snacks for schoolchildren). Bir offers solid takes on such standbys as lemon bars and sour cherry scones, but her ingenuity and the value of foraging comes to life with recipes like mulberry and peach cobbler with an almond topping, habanero crab apple jelly, and a pawpaw gelato. Bir also takes time to make sure foragers are clear on manners and ethics (“Forage legally and mindfully, on both public and private land”), as well as which poisonous plants and fruits to avoid (such as honeysuckle and pokeweed). Even if readers don’t have a lemon or apple tree in the backyard, they’re sure to find some useful advice, as Bir does an outstanding job of illustrating how to get the most out of simple, often neglected or discarded ingredients.

Sara Bir is a chef, writer, plant nerd, and culinary educator. She’s the author of two cookbooks: Tasting Ohio: Favorite Recipes from the Buckeye State and The Fruit Forager’s Companion. She lives in southeast Ohio, where she skates with her local roller derby team as Carrion the Librarian. Visit her website to learn more, or follow her on Instagram for tons of geeky foraging photos: @sausagetarian.