What the heck is a buckle, anyways?

I like fruit desserts. Maybe it's because I think that there's a tiny chance that they may, in fact, be good for me after all. Regardless, I made this recipe a few nights ago, and it turned out really well.

The recipe calls for either fresh or frozen (then thawed and patted dry) fruit. I used fresh, but since that gets expensive, I think frozen would work well, too. In some recipes, it really makes a difference to the flavor, but since the berries are baked into the dough, the taste should be about the same.

This recipe can be found on p. 602-3 of The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Individual Raspberry-Pistachio Buckles

3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. shelled pistachios
1/4 tsp. salt
4 T. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 c. fresh raspberries (or 2 c. frozen raspberries, thawed, drained, and patted dry)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 6 six-ounce ramekins and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

2. Process the sugar, pistachios, and salt in a food processor until finely ground, 10-15 seconds. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla and process until smooth. Add the flour and baking powder and pulse until just barely incorporated, about 5 pulses. Divide the batter among the ramekins. Sprinkle the berries over the batter.

3. Bake until golden and the buckles begin to pull away from the sides of the ramekins, about 25-30 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving. Tastes great with vanilla ice cream.

Note: You can substitute blueberries and pecans for the raspberries and pistachios for a variation on this dessert.

So what is a buckle? It's a fruit dessert where the dough starts on the bottom and the fruit on the top, but in the course of baking, the fruit buckles into the dough.