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vanilla bean

How to make Vanilla Bean Sugar

June 7, 2010

vanilla and sugar

Remember the time I told you about sticking in the used pods of vanillas into a jar of sugar to get sweet smelling vanilla sugar?

Now, what if I told you that I’ve got you something even better? Something that smells more potent, something that comes with the gorgeous specs of vanilla caviar, and something that will knock your socks off! I’m talking about whole vanilla bean sugar. The word whole is critical here.

vanilla and sugar

Normally, you would discard the pods after scraping off the inner goodness. But this time, the pods are ground to a fine powder along with the sugar. This way, not an ounce of vanilla is lost. (oh! I miss LOST and the island, but let’s not digress).

And how can you put this vanilla sugar to use? Just the same way you’d use regular sugar – in your baked goods, coffee, sprinkled over French toast or waffles (yum!).

vanilla and sugar

ash coloured vanilla sugar

Vanilla Bean Sugar Recipe

Adapted from: The Naked Chef, Jamie Oliver

I used two types of Indian vanilla beans to make this, 4 of each kind. I read somewhere that mixing different types of beans results in a more flavourful end product. To make this a more economical project, what you could do is make two batches of vanilla sugar – one that can be used for special stuff (or recipes where you need the vanilla to shine through) and is very strong (with 8 vanilla beans!) and another batch for your regular use that’s made with just 4 vanilla beans.

Ingredients:
2.2 lb / 1 kg sugar, caster or granulated
8 vanilla beans

Equipment:
Food Processor

Method:

Cut the vanilla bean to make it two to three inches long.
Add all of the beans and a third of the sugar to the food processor and grind to a fine powder.
Sift the mixture and add the coarse bits back to the food processor with another third of the sugar and grind the mixture. Repeat with the last third of the sugar.
If you still have bits and bobs of the vanilla bean left, grind it again.
The first batch of sugar that you ground with the vanilla will be a lot more concentrated (and darker in colour), so whisk together all of the sugar to distribute the vanilla equally.
Transfer to an airtight jar.

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Dulce de Leche cake with Vanilla Bean

October 24, 2009

Flour, butter, sugar and eggs are the most important ingredients for a baker. And I’ve been having a hard time for the past few days because we have been faced with a short supply of butter in the market. Yes, butter. The butter I have been wanting to drench my toast with (topped with Nutella, even better!). The butter I wanted to use for herb butter mushrooms. The butter that makes everything better (watching Julie and Julia has its influence, alright!).

I was itching to bake and I could not for the life of me find a way around this (no butter substitutes, please). As luck would have it, my grandmom had a handful of sticks stocked up in her freezer and she sent some to me!

I had seen an eggless cake recipe on Divine Taste and couldn’t resist making something similar just for the lovely crumb. When I saw the recipe, I instantly knew I’d use Dulce de Leche instead of condensed milk. And then later it struck me that steeping the vanilla in milk would add so much more depth to the flavor instead of using extract.

One point to note here is that besides the sweetened condensed milk, there is no sugar added. I found that I needed something to increase the sweetness in the form of an icing – I drizzled some milk-sugar icing, you could use anything. Most might be stumped about a recipe that doesn’t call for eggs, but this recipe works beautifully without them and yet results in a soft, moist cake. I have finally found my go-to eggless recipe!

just look at the specs of vanilla!

Dulce de Leche Cake with Vanilla Beans Steeped Milk

Inspired from: Divine Taste

Yield: A 9 inch cake or 1 8 inch bundt cake + 4 cupcakes

7 fl oz / 200 milk

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

8 oz. / 225g flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

14 oz. / 400gm dulce de Leche (oh, you must click though – just for the photos!)

110 gm/1 stick butter

4 tbsp yogurt

For the icing

125g icing sugar

2-3 tbsp milk

Scrape out the innards of the vanilla bean and stir it into the milk along with the remains of the bean. Simmer for 2-3 minutes and remove from heat. Let this continue to steep for at least another 30 minutes.
Grease tin generously with butter. Preheat the oven at 175C/350F.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.
In a large bowl beat the butter and the dulce de leche together until it is combined. Mix in the yogurt and beat again.
At this point, reheat the milk until it is hot and mix it with the butter and dulce de leche mixture.
Fold in the flour mixture, with a spatula.
Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for 35-40 minutes for an 8 inch bundt cake or a little longer for a 9 inch cake at 175C/350F.
To make the icing, put the icing sugar in a small bowl and add 1 tbsp of milk at a time to moisten the sugar. Keep stirring and add the milk a little at a time until the icing is thin enough to drizzle from a spoon. Drizzle this icing over the cooled cake. Did you know the tines of a fork work beautifully for this?

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Vanilla Bean 101

August 17, 2009

When I was in college, I remember an economics class where one of the basic financial instruments was called a vanilla bond. Having never seen a vanilla bean before, the only thing associated it to the basic ice cream flavour and didn’t pay much heed. Years later when I had my brush with the real stuff, I took offense to the term. How can anyone use vanilla in the context of being something so commonplace? It is anything but plain and boring! I’m convinced that there has been a mistake somewhere along the line and the misrepresentation stuck. Vanilla adds flavour. Vanilla enhances flavour. There is nothing apart from good vanilla that can make a baker happy. And it’s no surprise that vanilla takes the number one spot on my list.

Vanilla is expensive and that’s why you should careful about what you buy. Good vanilla bean is moist, bendy and typically over 6 inches in length. A colleague of mine at work, Dhruv, shared these tips on how to buy vanilla:

The bean should be aromatic and feel dense when held.
Wrap the bean tightly around your forefinger. If the bean remains intact, you’re good. If the bean crumbles, you know that the bean is a little old and not at the peak of its flavour.
After you’ve unwrapped the vanilla bean from your finger, and you see an oily residue, it goes to show that the beans are concentrated with oils and are full of flavour; a good sign.
When you cut the bean at either of the ends, you should see oil bubbles oozing and not just the vanilla caviar.

As for storage, vanilla beans are best stored in wax paper or plastic wrap and then placed in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Just make sure not to refrigerate it because it tends to get mouldy.

I’d heard of double strength and triple strength vanilla, and it sounded like a tempting purchase, but I soon learned that it isn’t really a matter of concern for most of us home bakers. It is just something used by professionals when they’d rather use more concentrated extract in lesser quantity so as to maintain the colour of a pristine white icing that requires vanilla flavourings sans the brownish tinge.

I’m sure you’d be interested in making your own vanilla extract. I made it a while ago, and am going to make a few more bottles of it thanks to Rajika who sent me a bagful of vanilla beans. The extract is especially good with ice creams because it has a vodka base and results in a much softer, delicate texture (since vodka freezing point is way lower at 27°C/16°F).

I have only recently discovered the goodness of steeping vanilla bean with peaches and cherries in hot water to infuse the flavour and letting it stand overnight for a super delicious jam. For this, simply cut the bean on either ends, make an incision through the length tough skin and scrape down to get your dose of pure vanilla goodness.

Once you’ve scraped off the vanilla, you can either stick the remaining bean into a jar of sugar for your very own vanilla sugar or dry it in the oven on a low temperature setting (115°F/45°C), grind it to a powder and use it in sprinkled over French toast or in cakes, ice creams or any place you’d like pronounced vanilla visibility. It would especially be great swapped with cinnamon in this cake , both in the batter as well as the sugar crust.

I came upon something quite unique – vanilla infused olive oil on Vanilla Garlic. Garrett suggests quite a few ways as to how this can be used, but the one I like the most is to use it over grilled fruit. I’m thinking it’d be great to brush peaches with this oil just before placing it on the grill. Unfortunately, I’ve got to wait another year before I get my hands on some peaches. Until then I’m going to occupy myself with other vanilla projects.

Have tips on using vanilla bean? Let’s discuss in the comments section.

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