Local Baker Celebrates the Next Best Thing With Decorative Desserts
Writer / Megan Arszman
Photography Provided
It was a phrase that grandmothers all over Indiana will say at family dinner.
Keep your fork.
For Jennifer Dupree, its not only a phrase of comfort and excitement that dessert is next, but a phrase that means the best is yet to come.
I saw a story about this woman suffering from cancer who had a fork tattooed on her wrist, and when she was asked about it, she said it was a reminder that the best was yet to come, Dupree says. I like that aspect because I am a Christian and I love that, yes, the best is yet to come even at the end of your life I can also relate it to my business.
After first learning to decorate ice cream cakes as a young manager at her local Dairy Queen, Dupree decided to warm things up a bit and started working on baked goods in her own home in the evenings and weekends she wasnt working.
It just went from there, she says. Family and close friends would ask me to bake for them. Then people started asking to order a cake from me. Friends and family of co-workers would reach out to me, and it just kept growing.
The beginning of 2022 saw Dupree take her side business to an official side hustle, giving it the name Keep Your Fork and becoming more of a figure in the eastern part of Hamilton County. I decided to start this adventure to see where it can go, she says.
Wherever its going, its going on a skyrocket. Since she officially opened Keep Your Fork and created a Facebook page, her following has grown. Organically, Dupree has passed 1,100 followers. During the holiday season, Dupree has limited her engagements to keep up with the high demand of her cakes, cupcakes and seasonal pies.
Dupree has worked for Community Health Network for over 20 years while balancing spending time with her family. Dupree has three adopted children (Mason, Jaxson, and London) with her husband of seven years, Chuck. Each member of the family has their own favorite when it comes to Duprees creations.
My husband isnt a big cake person, ironically, she says. But I have found some flavors that he has become a fan of, like my banana pudding cupcake. I grew up in Fortville, so I have plenty of family and friends who help me taste test and give me feedback.
For Mason, hes a fan of the plain white cupcake with nothing fancy. Jaxson is the chocoholic of the family and goes nuts for peanut butter and chocolate combined. Finally, girly-girl London will devour anything pink, at any time. Jennifers new favorite is one of her latest creations: cinnamon apple pie.
You can find cupcakes and cakes at Keep Your Fork, but you can also find cookie cakes and pies offered during the holiday seasons.
To find out more about Keep Your Forks offerings, you can follow them on Facebook: facebook.com/KeepYourForkBakeries.
