Archive for: vanilla
These mini scones were inspired by the pastry case at Starbucks, where they always have a tray of Petite Vanilla Bean Scones set out. These scones are very small, each less than 1/4 the size of their full sized counterparts, so they appeal to coffee lovers looking for a small (and inexpensive) sweet treat. I make scones at home on a regular basis, so I set out to turn this particular coffee shop favorite into a recipe that we can all make easily at home.
My Petite Vanilla Bean Scones scones have a lot of vanilla flavor in a small package. I scraped half of a vanilla bean into the scone dough while mixing it, then adding a little bit of vanilla bean (extra scrapings from the bean) and vanilla extract into the glaze that tops them. The result is that the scones have a very fragrant vanilla scent and a strong vanilla flavor, perfect for vanilla lovers and complimentary to just about any coffee or tea you might want to serve alongside them. Vanilla extract can be used in the scone dough instead of a vanilla bean, but you’ll get a more floral vanilla flavor by using the bean and the look of all those lovely vanilla bean seeds, too.
The scones themselves are tender and almost cake-like. They’re not too sweet, despite all the buttery vanilla flavor they have, so they really need that glaze on top to push them over the edge and add more sweetness and vanilla. You can pour over the glaze to coat the entire scone (place them on a cooling rack so the excess drips off) or you can give them a generous drizzle if you prefer a lighter touch with the frosting. Any way you prepare them, these little scones are hard to resist. If you can’t eat them all at once, they can be stored for a few days in an airtight container.
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There is something very comforting about about a bowl of homemade vanilla pudding. I ate it all the time as a kid – usually made from a handy box of pudding mix, which I could easily make myself – and still enjoy the way a bowl of pudding will bring a little happiness into my day now. These days, of course, I make my vanilla pudding from scratch, which makes it a little more satisfying over all. It is easy to make and requires just a few ingredients. From start to finish the pudding takes about 15 minutes to make, then you’re ready to eat a bowl of creamy, smooth and very vanilla-y pudding.
I give this homemade pudding an extra vanilla boost by using a vanilla bean for flavor, rather than relying on vanilla extract. I first infuse the milk with the bean and then scrape the seeds into the pudding mixture. You get a great vanilla flavor and capture some of the floral notes of the vanilla bean by doing this, and it doesn’t take any more time than stirring in vanilla extract (which does still make a good pudding if you don’t have whole beans). I also tend to use whole milk when making this pudding, as it gives the finished custard a thicker, richer consistency. The recipe will work just as well with low fat milk, but if you are using low fat milk and prefer your pudding on the thick side, add an extra 1/2 tbsp or so of cornstarch for extra thickening power.
Once your pudding is finished, you can eat it warm or serve it chilled. It is more delicate (i.e. less thick) and custard-like than some puddings, but it will be slightly thicker after it has been completely chilled. If you like the “skin,” leave your pudding uncovered as it cools. If you prefer skin-less pudding, press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of each of your pudding cups and leave it there as they cool.
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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.
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