Susan’s Homemade Vanilla How-To!
Our last (but not least!) guest blogger is Susan from She’s Becoming Doughmesstic. Enjoy her favorite summer treat!
Hi everyone!
I wasn’t sure what to post for Miss Oven Love, but a late night email from Holly over at PheMomenon inspired me…Vanilla!
Last year, when I started my own blog, I’ll admit I was completely clueless. I kept reading all these other bloggers claiming to have made Homemade Vanilla. Yeah right, I thought. That doesn’t seem likely. But I did the research, and found it could, in fact, be done…and very easily!
If you already make your own vanilla extract, good for you! You know what I mean when I say how easy it is – and how impressive it tastes, right?! Feel free to leave your comments here on any tricks or tips you might have for any newcomers in the Vanilla Making Department. I’m sure they will appreciate it!
Now, here’s the DoughMessTic tutorial on Vanilla Extract Making…I hope you’ll give it a shot!
First, you’ll need some good quality Vanilla Beans. You can find them online, but I get mine Here. For $25, you’ll get about 50 Grade A Madagascar Vanilla Beans, plus, they will send you close to 30 FREE Tahitian Extract Grade vanilla beans. So you’ll be set for quite some time in the Vanilla Bean department! Grocery stores don’t come close to competing with these prices – more likely than not, you’ll pay close to $5 for one bean. Eeeeek.
Next, secure yourself a big bottle of GOOD vodka. I typically use Skye, but there are lots of choices. The better the quality, the less the taste will interfere with your vanilla beans, so choose wisely.
Find a bottle to pour your vodka into, Walmart sells little bottle with stoppers, or you could simply use something as ordinary as an empty water bottle. I tend to make about 10 ounces at a time. For this size, I cut 6 beans in half then split them lengthwise and place them into the vodka. Do not scrape them. No need for that. Just put them in the bottle and give them a good shake every few days…for the next THREE months. I know, I know…torture. But you’ll be so rewarded in the end!
Now that you have so many extra vanilla beans, you may want to up the ante a bit and make your own Vanilla Sugar as well. Why not? You can use the seeds in some icing or whathaveyou, and just place the discarded beans in a container of sugar. Or, go ahead and split a bean and toss it in – you’ve got plenty now, right? Just be sure to give the jar a shake now and then to spread out the flavor…and feel free to use it at any time. Sure, the longer you let it sit, the better it tastes, but you can use this pretty much immediately. And just keep topping it off with more sugar and empty beans as you get them…the flavor lasts and lasts.
Hope you’ll give these a shot and amp up your baking…if nothing else, it gives you something to brag about!
If you can get it, Most Wanted vodka is great. The stuff is made by an independent distillery in Kansas, so I’m not sure how widely it’s distributed. Cheap, but it tastes expensive. Perfect to let the vanilla come thru in an extract – http://www.highplainsinc.com/
Thanks for posting that vanilla website. I keep looking at BJ’s (wholesale club) for vanilla beans but they never have them. I can’t wait to buy them and make my own vanilla sugar and extract.
This is fantastic! I’ve been meaning to try to this sometime!
I love that you posted this! I still haven’t started mine (don’t know why!) but I will get it going this week for sure!