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BUTTERY JAFFA DRIZZLE CAKE @ SECRET RECIPE CLUB

A cake that's so buttery and pound like with lods of vanilla topped with orangey goodness and if that aint enough there is a nice orange vanilla buttery drizzle atop the little loafs before u top them with melted chocolate.

Some home made orange candied peel and sprinkles and u have a cute little Jaffa cake at hand to snack on or wolf down :-)

Besides all u need to do is dump all the ingredients @ stand mixer and whisk away till nice , smooth ,light and fluffy ( did a bit differently but for convenience more than anything else).

 Kimberly's blog made me feel even more romantic than i already am , i dont know if it was about her wedding or the mexican wedding cookies , but make me feel the love some more she sure did and once again i was so happy with my pairing @ Secret Recipe Club.

Kimberly aint just into but crafts too and i love she day dreams about moving to a beach , specially since i live in a land of beaches , with a beach less than 5mins away from home.

Walks in the evening never got better.

Though i so wanted to bake the wedding cookies , i promised someone to bake this cake for them today and i sure did.

A CUTE COOKIE INSIDE A CUT'R COOKIE @ SECRET RECIPE CLUB

Yeah , this is the very same recipe that's backed the world over and has been baked in and out since 1856 , the Toll house CCC recipe.

This cookie that has little children want to drink milk or hot chocolate or what have u....
And the cookie that makes us say
"" chocolate ,chocolate , chocolate , oh how i love thee in a cookie....""

But with a little difference , these cookies are stuffed with some other cookies and chocolate too.

Having read reviews and raves and loves and different combis of this recipe , it's the secret  recipe club and Foodies@work that finally got me down to baking this very best CCC for the very first time.

The SRC was started and is organized by Amanda  and every member is assigned a blog to discover ,  explore cook/bake and enjoy.
Now we all would realize the fun and fiesta in this and i wouldnt need to get into the details , instead if u arent already a member , hop by and sign in and sooonn.

Foodies @ work is a blog by 2 foodies from 2 different cities but with one big appetite.
The reviews are fresh and very interesting , if i have to travel to Boston , NYC or beyond , this is one blog i would want to read about some more.

MY DUKAN DIET + RECIPES- VANILLA COFFEE PUDDING

If the word diet puts u off , well it does to me too (ignore the word in the tittle though), and for me its more of a lifestyle , eating a bit of everything.

But for someone who needs to shake off some pounds build up on eating (read binge'n)way too muc than normal amounts in the name of being a foodie , this is te way to go.

Now i have been working out for around 3 months and lost  weight (i loose faster than i put on bdw), totally into weight training to build that all that muscle which will continue too burn all my calories even while i sleep and absolutely enjoy it coz i love high energy and always have lods of it left even after a 2 hour workout ..
(sounds like music to the ears doesn't that ?? )

BUTTERY CINNAMONY VANILLA HUNGARIAN COFFEE CAKE/MONKEY BREAD @ CAKE SLICE

DO NOT  read this post and recipe unless you plan to bake right away

Gives you craving to have something cinnamony with a hint of vanilla and maybe chocolate . -ok add butter scotch to that . .

Yup thats what I microwaved , all of the above in chips with a few caramels and curly wurly all sprinkled with cinnamon sugar atop. . Now I was at peace to go back to the recipe and post . . .
Ps- if you want to try the dukan diet make sure your pantry doesn't boast of a good collection of chocolate chips of all kinds. 

There is no saying how creative You can get with them.

Important note/WARNING

Rightly said that this cake will surely test your self control ,i needed a few caramel bars dipped in cinnamon sugar even as I begun baking these ;-)

And if like me your making this coffee cake or monkey bread cake for the very first time as I was you'd be just as excited.

All the steps ,tossing the vanilla sugar with cinnamon in a zipper bag (or a large bowl as i did) , and tossing scoopfulls of the prepared dough to coat them all with the cinnamon vanilla sugar, placing them in the prepared pans and sprinkling with nuts and raisins    pecans as I go . . . 

And all those scents wafting around while baking.

 And while that bakes so waiting to have a peek a boo of how these bake , what they would look like after they bake and how deliciously the cinnamon vanilla combi would take these to a new height.

I went back and forth a many times over trying to decide on a large cake or a couple of minis, and a couple of minis in my small pan it was.

Oh all that caramelly goodness coating the crunchy pecans.....

The dough comes together pretty easily , mix the dry ingredients , cut in some very very chilled cubed butter , and let some nice vanilla buttermilk or whisked yogurt bring it all together.

Then scoop balls with whatever size of scoop u want , and toss them in some Vanilla Cinnamon Sugar (ahh already getttn so good) ,  get them a bit round again if they seem to have gone outa shape and this step is soo good , all that cinnamon vanilla sugar clinging to ur warmish hands as it goes.....

GRILLED HERB SHRIMP with "ONION SALSA" @ INA'S GARDEN

Grilled Herb shrimps , with Basil , lotsa garlic and some pine nuts to be a bit more precise.

This is the ''Wild Card '' fortnight at Ina's Garden and that means you can join in the party with jus about any of ur Ina's creations ...

Shrimp and grilled together sound exciting and this is just the shrimp am going to grill over the weekend for a dinner , but for now i jus grilled a small batch for 2 of us for lunch and it was awesome.

The best part about this recipe ( i promise ur gonna love this part) is that u can marinate the shrimps (or even chicken) , spread it on ur baking tray , cover well or cling wrap the previous nite and all u need to do on the day of the party is pop the tray in the oven a little before the guests arrive to a warm very very yummy smelling home ...( c i told ya , ur gonna love this )

There were actually no limes in the pantry , and i subbed in some home vinegar and the flavours it helped bring were fantastic, pairing beautifully with the french mustard.

+ all the marinade with the onion served as a great salsa kinda of accompaniment with the prawns.

The onions get mustardy and the vinegar, again , lends a nice flavour to them.

So yeah one whole onion for a few shrimps is totally worth it coz the grilled onions grab the nice shrimpy flavour plus with the basil et all , its gets absolutely delightful , and if u make lots of it u can even have some of it on some toastess and viola u have another entree.

The pine nuts were added on impulse coz of their ''pesto'' pairing with basil .

 

And just like Ina's recipes , this one is soo forgiving too , specially if u dont seem to have it all in sur pantry.

I measured nothing out , jus played it by ear and still it was sooo good!

+ i added some whole coloured peppercorns with some crushed one's , and lots of chopped garlic with a whole onion , that as i said , is a nice accompaniment with the shrimps.

GRILLED HERB SHRIMPS 

original recipe here

7- 8 larger shrimps, heads and tails left on

1-2 tbh chopped garlic

1 red onion chopped

a good handful of basil chopped 

1 tsp pf dijon mustard

1 tsp whole peppers (coloured)

1/2 whole peppers crushed

some pine nuts (optional)

a splash of vinegar or wine or lemon juice

salt to taste 

a ''good'' drizzle of olive oil

1) Mix all the ingredients in a bowl , and marinate the shrimps , atleast for an hour .

2) Place on a baking sheet , if grilling under a broiler ( with all the marinade), and grill till done , turning once in between.

3) Dot with butter when done (optional ) , and serve with all the marinade ,now browned and yummy of onions and pine nuts.

Serve with the ''onion salsa '' u grilled along (marinade)

NOTE- if u want more of the onion + basil+ pine nut salsa , jus add some more to the shrimps thats all, and dot with butter /olive oil.

I think this would be fantastic with some Pesto or parmesan and bread crumbs too , but whatever u do , dont leave out the garlic (and butter too :-) )

MAIDA'S BIG APPLE PIE WITH CRUMBLE @ MODERN BAKERS

 Here's my first post to the Modern Bakers group and From Modern Baker By Nick Malgieri an Apple pie , not just an Apple pie , but Maida's Big Apple Pie with Crumble topping ....

 Ok ok , i had this crumble ready just for this pie in the freezer , and well while baking i took multi tasking a bit too far , and it remained sitting right there , so that for another pie ..

I have baked a pie from Nicks recipe , so this is officially my second pie, that one being an English pie with blackberries, mango and guava.

Whether u wanna slice it thru , or have it whole , love it u sure will....

The rich pie dough is one of the best dough's ever and since there is no sugar in the crust u can work beautifully around the fillings.

Plus sprinkling some home made Vanilla or cinnamon sugar before u pop these in the oven , atop the crust is always fun ....

 Since i love hearts being there a plenty in my world , this was so expected of me , wasnt it ?

 The filling is absolutely delicious , though i did cut down on the sugar and up the butter a bit.

The brown & vanilla sugar ,along with an extra vanilla bean , 2 types of cinnamon (pics below), and butter make it absolutely delicious.

 Moving right back to this pie , an apple pie , i did try some stuff around the recipe , and though not perfectly pretty , it made me happy , deliciously happy.

SWEET & SPICY ROASTED NUTS with ROSEMARY @ INA's GARDEN

Cashewnuts are as Goan to me as Cashew feni to a tourist traveling to my land of sun , sand , sea and sea food , Goa , for the first time or second or third (if u have not heard this , i have many many times over, that they HAVE to feast on the cashew feni when in Goa on a holiday or not )

 

Too good , too fast to be true...

See how well the sweet and salty spiced butter coats the nuts..

Never leave Goa without some of these.......

 

Even if i cant generalize that , well i want to for the love of Cashewnuts anyway , besides being a wonderful nut , it connects me to my goan connection , in a good way .

Always looking forward to grind , slice , chop cashewnuts in baking or cooking , here was another opportunity and so for this weeks Appetizers and snacks , Rosemary roasted cashewnuts from Ina's Barefoot in Paris .

I dont know what part of this recipe is French but i like the sound of it ....

U simply cant stop at some....

VANILLA COCONUT LAVENDER CREME BRULEE with VANILLA FLUER DE SAL

I know , a long name as ever but thats what it is (lots of) VANILLA COCONUT LAVENDER CREME BRULEE with a sprinkle of VANILLA SEA SALT on some and dotted with SALTED BUTTER on some.....

Like that Creme Brulee is a French word for what the English refer to as burnt cream..

Simple ingredients Milk , cream , eggs ,sugar and Vanilla come together to make this delicious dessert.

Never too much Vanilla.....

For this months recipe choice for Baking with Dorie GrapeFruit picked the Creme BRulee and aint we all glad she did.

We bake together once a month and would love u to join along too , come here  and lets bake all the wonderful goodies together , so much fun....