Archive for: vanilla
Vanilla is one of the most ubiquitous flavors in baking. Not only are there a wide variety of vanilla baked goods, but vanilla is in the vast majority of baking recipes regardless of the primary flavor in the cake/cookie/pastry in question. Vanilla beans are always an option when baking and cooking, but the beans can be quite expensive. Vanilla extract is the most common and most cost effective way of using vanilla in your home kitchen.
Vanilla extract is an alcohol solution containing vanillin, an organic compound that is responsible for the vanilla flavor of vanilla beans. It is made by macerating vanilla beans in the solution until the flavor has been well-infused. Pure vanilla extract is specifically defined by the FDA as a solution containing 13.35-oz of vanilla beans per gallon of solution and with at least 35% ethyl alcohol by volume. The rest of the volume of vanilla extract is typically made of water. Ethyl alcohol is used because it is flavor neutral, meaning that it does not impart a taste of its own, and alcohol in general is a good solvent, easily extracting the vanillin from the vanilla bean and infusing it into the rest of the solution. In short, vanilla extract is an alcohol-based solution that allows you to get a more flavor and more use out of a single vanilla bean.
There are many different types of vanilla beans – Madagascar vanilla, Tahitian vanilla – and they can all be used to make vanilla extract. Labels will often note the specific type of vanilla bean used, and different extracts will have slightly different flavor profiles depending on the variety of bean used. Some manufactures also make double or triple strength extract, using a higher ratio of vanilla beans to the alcohol solution during the manufacturing process. Homemade extracts can be made with other types of alcohol, such as vodka, by submerging split vanilla beans in the alcohol and allowing them to infuse for several months. Vanilla extract can be stored indefinitely if kept in a cool, dark environment or when stored in a bottle that does not allow much light through.
I use real vanilla extract and real vanilla beans when I’m baking – and I generally use a lot, because not only do I love the flavor of vanilla, but I love how it interacts with other flavors. A couple of years ago, an issue of Cook’s Illustrated (March 2009) conducted a taste test of vanilla extract and found that imitation vanilla can be just as good – if not better than – regular vanilla extract in some recipes. This is because “flavor and aroma compounds in vanilla begin to bake off at around 280 to 300 degrees. Cakes rarely exceed an internal temperature above 210 degrees; cookies become much hotter as they bake. As a result, pure vanilla kept a [very] slight flavor advantage in the cake—but [high-ranking imitation soared to first place] in the cookies.”
CF Sauer Co.’s Gold Medal Imitation Vanilla was the test kitchen’s top imitation vanilla and I kept an eye out for it ever since I read that article so I could give it a try and see how it performed for myself. When you open the bottle, it has a very clear, bold vanilla flavor with none of the alcohol notes of vanilla extract. I could definitely smell a strong vanilla flavor in my batters (tested cake and a few cookie recipes) even during mixing. The vanilla held up well to baking and the flavor came through after baking, with a more pronounced vanilla flavor than vanilla extract typically does in these baked good recipes – and there was no hint that it wasn’t “real” vanilla extract.
The test kitchen also liked the fact that this imitation vanilla was significantly less expensive than most other vanilla extracts. In puddings and custards, real vanilla was still the champion of the taste test, but most of us bake cakes, muffins or whip up batches of cookies more often and use up our vanilla in those recipes. Imitation vanilla, and certainly this Gold Medal Imitation Vanilla, really does stand up to the task when it comes to baked goods and switching to a good quality imitation in those recipes can get you just as good a result and save you a few bucks along the way. That said, if you want to stick with the real thing (and I know I will in the long run) and really go through your vanilla quickly, you’ll want to do what I do and stock up on vanilla extract at wholesale stores where you can get huge bottles of it at very good prices.
Vanilla beans can impart a much deeper and more complex vanilla flavor to a custard or other dessert than vanilla extract, but while any vanilla bean is better than none, not all vanilla beans offer the same flavors. They range in quality and price, and in a recent issue (July/Aug 2011) the test kitchen at Cook’s Illustrated set out to test five different brands of vanilla beans – three mail-order varieties and two supermarket brands – to see if one stood out from the rest. All of the beans they tested were from Madagascar, the world’s largest producer of vanilla beans.
The brands they tested were McCormick Madagascar Vanilla Beans, Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Gourmet Vanilla Beans, Penzeys Madagascar Vanilla Beans, Rodelle Madagascar Vanilla Bourbon Beans, Spice Islands Bourbon Vanilla Beans. The beans were put to the test in three different recipes: mixed into an uncooked cream cheese frosting, and infused in both a simple crème anglaise and in the base for vanilla ice cream.
+Continue Reading
Vanilla beans are a pricey ingredient prized by bakers and cooks because nothing imparts vanilla flavor like seeds scraped straight from a fresh vanilla pod. I usually have a few vanilla beans on hand and, like so many other deal-hunting bakers, I try to replenish my supply when I find a good deal on bulk vanilla beans (the holidays are a great time to stock up). Having a large supply of vanilla beans on hand begs a question: how long do vanilla beans last?
Vanilla beans will keep for at least a year when properly stored, and can last more than two years in ideal conditions. They should be stored in a closed container in a cool, dry place. An airtight container will help to keep the beans moist, but it is not necessary for storage. Most purveyors recommend letting your beans breathe by exposing them to air every few weeks for a few minutes – particularly when the beans are stored in an airtight container. Vanilla beans should never be stored in the refrigerator, as the moist environment in the fridge can actually encourage mold to grow on the beans. If you live in a very humid place, it is best to buy vanilla beans in smaller quantities and use them when they are fresher to ensure that you get the best results.
The beans may dry out over time, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use them. To refresh a dried vanilla bean, submerge it in hot water for a few minutes before using to plump it up, or simply wrap it in a moist paper towel and microwave it for a few seconds. Once the bean has been softened again, it is easy to split it and scrape out the seeds. Vanilla beans that have already been used to infuse a custard or other dish can be dried out again and saved almost indefinitely, adding their remaining flavor and aroma to things like vanilla sugar.
I keep a container full of vanilla sugar in the back of my pantry that I refresh every time I have an extra vanilla bean around. Making your own vanilla sugar is a great way to repurpose vanilla beans that you have already use to infuse a custard or other sauce with vanilla, giving them a second life (and getting your money’s worth!) in the kitchen. Vanilla sugar isn’t something that I often see in stores, but there are a few companies that make it available for purchse. One of these is Rodelle, a company that specializes in vanilla and vanilla extracts. Their vanilla extracts are excellent, but if you are going to branch out from the standard baking vanillas, their Vanilla Sugar is also a must-try.
I make my vanilla sugar with regular white sugar, the kind that I use in most of my cookies and cakes. Their all-natural vanilla sugar is made with coarse, crunchy sugar crystals and is completely infused with vanilla extractives – meaning that it has the same intense smell as vanilla extract and the same dark color, but it is sweet and flavorful at the same time. I have to admit that their vanilla sugar has more vanilla flavor than any other vanilla sugar I’ve tried, whether homemade or at a high end restaurant. I still use my homemade vanilla sugar for baking because I find that the finer sugar is a little more versatile in recipes, but this sugar gets sprinkled on buttery cinnamon toast, added to coffee drinks and used to finish off muffins and scones with both vanilla flavor and a crunchy texture from large sugar crystals. The vanilla sugar is a little bit more difficult to find in retailers than their vanilla extracts, but it is worth keeping an eye out for if you, like me, are a vanilla fan.
