(Joanna, I’ve owed you this post for like 2 weeks!)
I know it’s kinda, well vanilla, but I love me some vanilla.
As with most things food I decided I want my vanilla to be,
- quality
- thrifty
- a hands-on experience
so I ordered me some vanilla beans.
I sliced them in half and stuck them in some bourbon.
This ‘extract’ will be ready in about a month. I keep it in the pantry and shake it when I think of it.
Extract is nice and easy but I’m becoming addicted to the straight up pulp from the center of the bean.
Especially after making a Vanilla Fig Coconut Flour Cake with it.
After squeezing the pulp out of the bean for various baking projects I toss the shell into the mason jar containing my cherry bourbon. Waste not, want not. 😉
As far as thrifty goes, I ordered my Madagascar vanilla beans from Olive Nation and paid about $15 for 1/4 pound or ~25 beans. I’ve used about 5 beans so far and have a couple cakes and about 6 ounces of extract to show for it. Pretty thrifty in my book.
Have you experimented with vanilla beans? I’d love some ideas for savory ways to use them!
Yay!! Thanks much. I’m still planning on ordering vanilla beans and making this cake and making extract . . . it’s just on hold while I box up my entire house to move :/
Until then I shall live vicariously . . . and vanilla is so not vanilla in my book!
Best of luck with the move!
I made homemade vanilla for Christmas presents last year and it was a huge hit! I ordered a dozen 4 oz. round glass bottles from specialtybottle.com (who knew something like that existed?!), made a label, and tied with ribbon. So easy. So fun.
I’ve found a few of those specialty bottle websites-so much fun! I was thinking of making some vanilla foodie gifts, I should order those bottles!
I brought home some intoxicatingly fragrant vanilla beans from India. I would simply cut of the ends and toss them into coconut/banana/date/nut smoothies for a sweet treat. Yum.
Heidi Swanson from 101 Cookbooks has an awesome looking cookie recipe that uses a whole vanilla bean – ends and skins and all.
http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/whole-bean-vanilla-cookies-recipe.html
Looks like it might be right up your alley!
Thanks! Love the idea of using the whole thing!
We made an amazing vanilla creme brulle with our vanilla beans – love this idea of putting them in bourbon!
You are all about the vanilla these days!
simple, but I find adding the pulp [seeds?] from the vanilla bean adds a much more intense vanilla flavor to my buttercream frosting. I’ll usually avoid making vanilla bean buttercream if I’m out of beans because it’s that much better! 🙂
I hear you, I originally bought the beans to make extract but I now prefer them straight up! I made a batch of berry muffins on Saturday morning and added finely chopped bean to the batter, so good! Do you order your beans online?