Fork Knife Swoon

September 4, 2019

Apple Blackberry Upside Down Cake

A sweet and flavorful apple blackberry upside down cake with a jammy, brown sugar caramel fruit topping and moist and tender-crumbed cake below. Not overly sweet, this everyday cake is easily adaptable and takes advantage of just about any seasonal fruit or berry. Best served with a dusting of powdered sugar or whipped cream alongside morning coffee or an an afternoon cup of tea.

This vibrant apple blackberry upside down cake falls into the category of weekday cake, if there is such a thing (and there should be!).

An unfussy and adaptable cake, it’s quick to come together, tames a sweet tooth without being overly saccharine, and can be made with almost any seasonal fruit or berry.

…it’s also the kind of cake that provoked our toddler to scream “more cake! more cake!” with tears in his eyes, on repeat, for longer than I’d like to admit, after he’d finished his little piece.

With a jammy, brown sugar caramel, apple-blackberry topping and moist, vanilla and cinnamon-flecked tender-crumbed center, can we really blame him? Mom tested, Henry approved.

By Laura

August 27, 2019

Mini Peach Puff Pastry Tarts with Honey

Sweet and simple peach puff pastry tarts tossed with wild honey and a hint of vanilla. This easy summer dessert stars juicy, fresh peaches, and takes advantage of store-bought frozen puff pastry.

mini peach puff pastry tarts via forkknifeswoon.com

Over the weekend, we went peach picking!

We couldn’t have asked for a better day, one of the nicest of the summer, with bright blue skies, puffy clouds, and a slight, welcome breeze. It was Henry’s first u-pick experience and he had a blast, searching the rows for the best peaches, helping us put them in the basket, and most importantly, saying hello to the every single goat, chicken, pig, and alpaca on the farm, with ultimate toddler enthusiasm.

My own excitement was over the cheerful basket of fresh peaches and apples we collected to take home.

By Laura

August 9, 2019

Easy Raspberry Scones with Lemon-Vanilla Icing

This is my favorite raspberry scones recipe with sweet raspberries, a hint of vanilla, and a drizzle of lemon icing. They’re flavorful, crisp on the outside yet still tender and moist in the center, made with simple ingredients, and perfect for breakfast or brunch!

Raspberry Scones with a Lemon Vanilla Icing via forkknifeswoon.com

For a long time I thought of “scones” as a dirty word. A kind of sad, runner up to more delectable breakfast treats, like fruit-laden muffins or gooey cinnamon rolls or buttery coffee cakes. My experience with scones was all too often hard and dry and bland …akin to what I imagine Hagrid’s rock cakes must be like.

However, after lots of recipe testing, they’ve become one of my favorite pastries to make from scratch, and are now in my vocabulary as something much different:

Think a tender, biscuit-like center that’s soft and flaky, and studded with juicy raspberries. A barely crisp crust topped with the sweet crunch of raw sugar. And a quick drizzle of lemon-kissed vanilla icing that adds a welcome tartness to these sweet, buttery, flavorful – and now definitively indulgent – breakfast treats.

By Laura