Flag Cake (Or Just a Damn Good Sheet Cake with Fruit)

 So...I know this looks a little late. The Fourth of July is over...by a week. Let's be real though, this wasn't getting to you in time to make it last week anyway. The thing is, you don't have to arrange the fruit in a flag shape. It just looks really cool when it is.

This cake, y'all, is bangin'. Moist, striking a balance between fluffy and dense. Like not an angel food cake but not a poundcake either. And my most favorite thing about a sheet cake- you don't have to take it out of the pan. Just cool it on a rack and frost that baby right in the pan. Boom.

Thyme Scones with Syrupy Strawberries & Cream

I hope everyone had a lovely Father's Day. It's a bittersweet day for me, especially this year. It's been a year since my grand-daddy passed, and he was absolutely my daddy in every way that mattered. He was at my graduations and piano recitals and choir concerts.

He had a huge sweet tooth. As in, you should expect the cake we're going to eat to already have a slice taken out. Y'know...for testing. Most of the desserts I make have him in mind. But I'm not sure if this is dessert that I had for breakfast or breakfast that I had for dessert. I think it can go either way. The scones are sweet but herby, and the strawberry sauce has a tang that keeps this from being decidedly one or the other.

Strawberry Marshmallows

So we're finally going to talk about these strawberry marshmallows. Look at them. They're a delicate pink with specks of strawberry seeds. They have a tangy bite but are still soft as a down pillow. I just...couldn't find a proper use for them. I had grand dreams of making a toasted marshmallow milkshake, but that didn't quite turn out as I had hoped. I think they'd be a fun twist on s'mores made in the oven. I don't recommend holding these over an open flame because they're likely to just fall off your skewer. But you've made s'mores in the oven right? I kind of almost like it better because the chocolate gets melty, and I have a clinical obsession with melty chocolate. Yeah, melty is one of those technical terms. At any rate I still think these marshmallows are worth sharing because nothing beats a homemade marshmallow.