Sunken Fruit Cake

A buckle was one of my signature cakes when I worked as pastry chef for the Gjelina Group. Every bite is tangy, tart, and deliciously rich. I love this cake with mixed berries, but using one single variety can also be nice. If you’re serving it after dinner, add some fresh berries and a little whipped cream on the side. 

MAKES ONE 12 × 19 INCH CASSEROLE DISH

INGREDIENTS 

Fat + Flour: The Art of a Simple Bake: A Cookbook Nicole Rucker

• 4 ounces (113g) cold unsalted butter, cubed, + more for buttering the pan

• 2 cups (380g) mixed berries, such as raspberries, blueberries, and boysenberries

• 2 tablespoons (42g) wildflower honey

• 4 cups (500g) unbleached all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon (2g) baking powder

• ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda

• 1½ cups (300g) granulated sugar

• ½ cup packed (106g) light-brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon (3g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt

• 4 large eggs (200g)

• 1 cup (256g) full-fat sour cream

• 1 cup (236ml) full-fat buttermilk

• 1 teaspoon (5g) vanilla bean paste

• 1 tablespoon (7g) confectioners’ sugar

DIRESCTIONS 

Preheat your oven to 350°F (176°C). Generously butter a 12-by-9-inch casserole dish. 

Toss the berries in the honey in a medium bowl, and allow them to macerate while you mix the cake batter. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugars, and salt together, to disperse the soda and powder and break up any lumps of sugar. Add the cold butter, and mix on low speed until the mixture resembles rustic sand, about 4 minutes. 

Whisk the eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla bean paste together in a medium bowl, and slowly add it to the butter and dry ingredients, with the mixer running on low speed. Mix until you have a smooth batter, about 2 minutes. 

Transfer half of the batter to the prepared casserole dish. Tap the dish on the counter a few times to burst any air pockets. Sprinkle half the macerating berries and any juices they’ve created over the surface of the cake batter. Top with the remaining batter, followed by the rest of the berries and juices. Bake the cake on the center rack of your oven until it’s browned and set in the center and the berry juices bubble a little at the sides, about 1 hour.

Cool the cake in the pan for 1 hour. Before serving, place the confectioners’ sugar in a sieve and dust the top of the cake. 

This cake is great with ice cream or crème fraîche. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

From FAT + FLOUR © 2025 by Nicole Rucker. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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