A VANILLA DREAM IN VANILLASTRAWBERRYSPRINGFIELDS LAND

Warm aroma that surrounds in &  pours outta ur kitchen ,spilling into ur warm homely home,more so if u have an open kitchen(i love an open kitchen,everything about it!)can be beaten by few a scents & aromas,while u bake ur fav cookie is simply heart warming.....get ur pot brewing that perfect bourbon vanilla flavoured cafe to enjoy pure bliss when d 1st cookie,warm just outta the oven,vanishes like a dream when u awake,on ur tongue!! right outta the oven with a gorgeous cuppa!

Shapped these vanilla dreams loke kinda smallish jammy buns,a droplet(biggie one) of baby blue frosting instead of jams & sparinkles! cutie pie picture they made but pictures later coz will amke exactly the same again & have a photoshot again(baked these on 26th july 1st). Yummy & CRUNCHY. added icing sugar instead of sugar & no bakers ammonia(d magical addition) so in went baking powder instead!! but will soon try these with bakers ammonia too.

so here's all u'll need for a dream of vanilla

2 tsps of vanilla extract

1 whole vanilla bean

(love those tiny black specs thanx to the vanilla bean)

1/4 tsp bakers ammonia or 3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4th cup sugar

1/2 cup butter i.e.125 grms(amul)

1 cup flour

(this recipe is adapted from kafs vanilla dreams)

ok now lets get working babes,

1)if using the bakers ammonia dissolve it first with vanilla exract & then add

if using baking powder sift with flour.

2)combine vanilla with butter & sugar& beat till smooth.

3)now tip in flour & beat till the dough comes together even if it seems dry at first.

4)break off tiny pieces,flatten & indent in the middle or u can imprint any design
with a fork or find anything in ur kitchen drawer.

5)place on lightly greased on lined tray in pre-heated oven (180*c) till done.

almost 40mins in my oven.

6)cool on wire rack but if u cant keep ur hands & eyes off,go ahead...feast............

CHOCOLATE EXPRESSO CINNAMON CHOCO CHIP LOAF

the gentle breeze has its way blowin away my flame admist a photo shota slice ready to be gorged on a cut section to disply the poppin vanilla bean or is the view better from here?

or its best out here ,is it?

tea lites burn away while i brew a pot of cafe vanillaturn out from the pan after 10 mins the candles set the mood for the delights in store side view for the TOPS crunchy delish topping setting grounds to click the delish choco loaf this was the first shot just out of the oven crack oozing a glimpse of the richness in store to the left:batter in prepared pan all set and ready to bake A GOOD CHOCOLATEY CAKE IS..............JUST THAT .............GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

 GOOD THE WORD IN UNDERPLAYING EXCELLENT,MELT IN YOUR MOUTH ,GOOEY AND DELIGHTFULL !!!


EVERYBODY HAS DEIR BEST OR FOR KEEPERS RECIPE (n so do i) AND YET THERE R SOME RECIPES THAT DRAW US TO TRY THAT ONE TOO N WITH SUCESS!!

 AS MUCH AS YOUR NO FAIL RECIPE TOO, HERE;S A LITLE TWISTED TAKE ON MY FAV CHOCO CAKE (whch will post asap with pictures too).
 ITS ADAPTED FROM THE CHOCOLATE CAKE FROM MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE SITE,KAF!
 Simply put i love baking ,always have, the excitement of entering my teens (what excitement ...oh realli) as we'd say or the world says was marred( well really) by my excitement of baking my 1st ever cake,a chocolate one at that at a family birthday and a sucessfull chocolate one at that on my own,with pink icing melting on my warm from the oveb cake,yeah i did wait a litTle while and it did get to the table to cut admist all of us singing the birthday song and to tell thetruth it was way before i did enter my teens!
 and today too as i place in a batch of holiday butter cookies in the middle shelf of my hot oven,m already sub consiously pondering about what do i bake next,and at the same time enjoying the moments of my buttercookies baking and yeah with loads and many thoughtsrunning thru on i'd decorate n dress up my baked cookie to present you a cute finished cookie...talk about multi tasking but i havent mastered that as yet really!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 this is a recipe i have tried n tested a couple of times,here am baking it as a loaf with a crunchy topping you must try but can leave out. this uses a one bowl combination method and is really very quick to put by...

 AND DONT JUDGE BY THE LENGHT OF THE RECIPE COZ I'VE GIVEN OPTIONS AND AS MUCH AS A DETAILED PROCEDURE TO FOOL PROOF IT JUS FOR YOU SO HERE GOES THE LIST FOR ALL U'LL NEED SO GET CHECKING PANTRY SUPPLIES


 1.1/8th cup ALL PURPOSE FLOUR or " cup SELF RAISING FLOUR
 3/4 tsp BAKING POWDER (u will need to use this only if using all purpose flour) 1/4 tsp BAKING SODA
 1/3 CUP COCO POWDER (i used indian cadburys but if u can lay ur hands on any dark imported choco powder or dutch processed coco powder,thats ur best bet) 
 1 cup GRANULATED SUGAR
 1/4 cup BUTTER,very soft(please bring to room temp,it helps in the mixing,this is around half a stick ie around 63 grams,remember dis is an american nt indian recipe coz our butter sticks r 100 grams)
 1/6 cup MIX OF MELTED BUTTER AND OIL(U CAN ADD A DASH OF GHEE,I DID) 1 VANILLA BEAN OR A TSP OF UR FAV REAL VANILLA EXTRACT
 1/2 cup MILK
 1/4 cup WATER
 1 tbh COFFEE powder(i used bru instant but expresso coffee powder would bring out the best of chocolate but i dont have any so..)
 2 LARGE EGGS
 1/4 TH SCANT CUP CHOCO CHIPS(optional)
 OK NOW GET A NICE BIG MIXING BOWL OR IF YOU HAVE A STAND MIXER WELL MEASURE INGREDNTS IN ORDER AND INTO THE MIXER WITH YOUR BLADE RUNNING,I DONT SO MY HANDS DO THE JOB.........
 
 1. PREHEAT YOUR OVEN TO 180"C (I have to at 210"c as my cooking range oven aint very hot). grease a loaf pan(around d size of 500gms) and what i did is place the buttery paper of the butter wrap at the base ,but it aint necessary or u could line with butter paper n grease.
 2.SIFT TOGETHER ,INTO A LARGE BOWL THE 1st FOUR INGREDIENTS,THE SIFTING ELIMINATES LUMPS IF ANY,I HAVE A HAND SIFTER THA WORKS WELL. IF USING A STAND MIXER PLACE THE FIRST FOUR IN THE BOWL AND RUN,SAVES YOU TIME N A TOOL LESS TO WASH UP AND WORKS AS WELL.
 
3. ADD THE SUGAR AND SOFT BUTTER AND WELL BEAT REALY REALLY WELL. IN NEXT GOES THE MELTED BUTTER AND OIL MIX AND CONTINUE MIXING AND WHAT YOU WILL HAVE IS CHOCOLATE COLORED GRAINS THAT KINDA OR QUITE RESSEMBLE SAND. IF U HAVE A STAND MIXER,THIS WILL TAKE U 2 TO 3 MINS ON MEDIUM HEAT
 
 4.NOW IF UR USING A BEAN,CUT INBETWEEN AND SCRAPE CAVIAR WITH THE BACK OF A KNIFE,ADD TO WARMED MILK (save the bean ). NOW ADD THE WATER AND HEAT IN THE MICOWAVE AND ADD THE COFFEE POWDER IF USING. AND IF UR USING EXTRACT NOW IS THE TIME TO ADD (u can even add lime or orange zest for another twist) ADD THIS LIQUID TO THE BATTER MIX AND YUP CONTINUE BEATING ......
 
 5. OK SO NOW IS THE TIME FOR THE EGGS. ADD,ONE AT A TIME ,BEATING WELL BETWEEN EACH ADDITION. IF WITH THE STAND MIXER BEAT ON HIGH FOR A MINUTE,WITH MY HANDS I DID TILL MY HANDS HURT,HEHEHE,.... HERE YOU HAVE A NICE THIN BATTER. ADD A TBH OF THE CINNAMON SUGAR MIX,RECIPE BELOW,(OPTIONAL) OR U COULD USE IT ONLY FOR TOPPING. AND CHOCO PART OF CHOCO CHIPS(OPTIONAL) SAVING THE REST FOR TOPPING.

6.PLACE THE USED VANILLA BEAN IN THE PREPARED LOAF TIN,POUR IN THE BATTER,SPRINKLE 2TBH OF THE CINNAMON SUGAR AND REMAINING CHOCO CHIPS FOR AN ADDED CRUNCH.
 
7.THE SECOND AND THIRD PICTURE IS OF THE CAKE BATTER IN TIN AND THE HEAT IN THE OVEN WAITING TO WORK ITS MAGIC ON THE SMOOTH AND CREAMY BATTER

8.BAKE FOR AROUND AN HOUR. THE CAKE ID DONE WHEN IT SPRINGS BACK TO TOUCH N A TESTER OR TOOTHPICK COMES CLEAN WHEN INSERTED IN THE CENTRE. YOU COULD TENT IT DURING YOUR LAST HALF HOUR OR 15 MINS OF BAKING FOR A SOFTER CRUST.
 

9.COOL IN PAN FOR 10 MINS AND TURN ON TO UR SEVING PLATE,YOU CAN FROST THIS LOAF BUT WITH THE TOPPING THE BEST TO GO WOULD BE A DOLLOP OF FRESH WHIPPED CREAM OR VANILLA ICE CREAM.

cinnamon sugar

just mix the following:

1/4 cup any brown sugar

1/2 tbh ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp coco powder

and thats it!

You will need around 3 tbh of this,but u can add more to the batter if you want,its an elegant addition

tips and tricks

1.a loaf takes a little longer to bake so tent it half way thru or line with extra sheet of brown paper orfoil

tenting is cover the tin with foil paper in a tent like fashion

2.never overbake n remeber the cake continues baking in the hot tin as u cool it too.this cake is really very moist

3.when cooling wrap pack cake with foil to prevent the air from drying itand lock in moisture.

4. frost any of ur favs

5.i always bake in the middle shelf of my oven,my oven gives its best perfomance at this location.

5.all the best