Posts tagged as:

vanilla

Tahitian Vanilla Cake

November 26, 2010

Tahitian Vanilla Cake

Everyone has a go-to pound cake recipe, right? Heck, I have two pound cake recipes around here already. So why would anyone possibly want to use this recipe? Well, no reason really except for the fact that these loaves baking in your oven will make the house smell spectacular. And in this case, it’s the two plump vanilla beans that create the magic (something that copious amounts of lemongrass and orange essential oils in diffusers couldn’t.)

This cake from Dorie Greenspan’s book caught my eye because I was looking for a recipe in which my precious Tahitian Vanilla can be enjoyed in all its splendour. More so because, unlike recipes that call for vanilla extract, or at the most half a vanilla pod, this one called for four times that. It wasn’t hard to make up my mind.

I love a good pound cake just like anyone else, and when it is made with a technique that deviates from the norm, I feel an obsessive need to try out the new recipe. The new method in question involves the eggs and sugar being mixed together, followed by cream, and the butter stirred in only at the end, after the flour. It promised a soft, tight crumb, and it delivered.  However, I’m still hoping to get my hands on a recipe that will have the crust bake till it’s thicker and golden to provide that distinct bite that stands up against the soft crumb.

Since this recipe makes two loaves, I made one plain loaf and the other speckled with dark chocolate chips. Like all pound cakes, this one tastes better after a day; so once it’s cooled, wrap it up in cling film. Of course, I couldn’t wait a day so I cut up slices when warm and ate it with a little raspberry jam.

PS: For those of you mailing in for Christmas cake – here’s a recipe from my favourite food guy Nigel Slater whom I know I can blindly trust. I don’t think I’m up for making a Christmas cake given the astonishing amount of alcohol involved. Sorry!

Tahitian Vanilla Cake

Tahitian Vanilla Cake Recipe

Adapted from: Baking From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan (USA | UK | India)
Yield: 2 loaves

Ingredients:
2 2/3rd cup/ 300g flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
2 cups / 400g sugar
2 tbsp / 25g vanilla sugar
2 plump vanilla pods, split lengthwise with the seeds scraped out. You can use the remains for making vanilla sugar/extract.
6 eggs
2/3rd cup / 160ml heavy cream (I use Amul)
200g butter, melted

Equipment:
2 loaf pans

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C. Butter and flour two loaf pans.
  2. Sift the flour and baking powder together.
  3. Rub the sugar, vanilla sugar and vanilla pod innards together until it’s nice and frangrant.
  4. Add the eggs to the bowl of sugar and mix until they’re thoroughly incorporated.
  5. Whisk in the cream.
  6. Now, switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the flour mixture into the bowl, until it’s evenly incorporated.
  7. Finally, fold in the melted butter and pour the batter into the baking pans.
  8. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  9. The cake will brown faster, especially when using dark pans, so make sure to cover the top with a foil tent.
  10. Remove from the oven and let it sit in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
  11. Slice up and serve!

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Baked Vanilla Yoghurt

August 17, 2010

Baked Vanilla Yoghurt

I’ve had this recipe of baked yoghurt tucked away in my recipe file for the longest time. Maybe because it’s so simple, I didn’t come around to making it. It’s just three ingredients (if you don’t count vanilla), takes barely any prep time and tastes so good, especially with fresh fruit.

All you have to do is mix together the yoghurt, cream and condensed milk, along with the vanilla pod innards, and pour the resultant mixture into ramekins, Then, bake on a really low temperature until it’s just set. The baking time will vary depending on the size of the ramekin. Plus, the yoghurt will continue to firm up as it cools.

I was debating with myself on the better flavouring to use – vanilla or cinnamon. The Pod from the South won. There is something about those gorgeous black specks of vanilla scattered in every bite that makes it so alluring! Although, I reckon spices like cardamom and saffron would be stellar too when used in the baked yoghurt. I made the baked yoghurt for dinner, but I find myself running to the refrigerator to grab a bite every now and then. And this  so creamy, that you can actually feel the subtle crunch of the vanilla seeds in the yoghurt. Mighty good dessert!

Vanilla Beans

Baked Vanilla Yoghurt Recipe

Yield: 3 large ramekins or 6 small ones

Ingredients:
1 vanilla pod
200g. / 8oz. fresh cream (heav cream preferable, I used 25% fat cream)
200g. / 8oz. condensed milk, sweetened
200g. / 8oz. plain yoghurt

Method:

  1. Split and scrape the innards of the vanilla pod and transfer to a mixing bowl.
  2. Add the yoghurt and stir till the vanilla looks evenly dispersed and there are no lumps in the yoghurt.
  3. Stir in the cream and finally the condensed milk.
  4. Pour into ramekins and bake at 120°C/250°F until just set – approx 15-20 mins. Switch off the oven, and let it cool in the oven.
  5. Refrigerate for a few hours, and serve chilled.

{ 53 comments }

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:

  1. Cut the vanilla bean to make it two to three inches long.
  2. Add all of the beans and a third of the sugar to the food processor and grind to a fine powder.
  3. 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.
  4. If you still have bits and bobs of the vanilla bean left, grind it again.
  5. 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.
  6. Transfer to an airtight jar.

{ 28 comments }

Peach And Cherry Jam Infused With Vanilla Bean

July 9, 2009

Peach and Cherry Jam
This has been a bountiful season of peaches and cherries; I’ve eaten boxes of cherries and a whole lot of peaches with honey but sadly, the season is coming to a close. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find good peaches. Every time I see the velvety fruit blushing away, I have got to buy it! So like a crazy girl I kept buying the fruit in such copious quantities, that I ended up with more of it in the refrigerator than I had space for. The wonderful idea of canning them dawned upon me.

Peaches and Cherries

I’ve never made jam before, so I read up a lot of resources before finally arriving at a recipe that would work for the fruits I had in mind. It turned out just like what I wanted – sweet and tangy at the same time, with gorgeous specs of vanilla and the sweetest fragrance any jam could ever have. This is testament to the fact that real vanilla beans can make everything better! I was a little worried when in some places I saw people use pectin to help set the jam, but the jam set perfectly without any of it.

I love this jam on toast with ricotta cheese but I’m already thinking of ways to use this in my baking!

Peach and Cherry Jam Infused with Vanilla

14 oz / 400g peaches
7 oz / 200g cherries
14 oz / 400g sugar (my fruits were very sweet) Use up to 600g of sugar.
1-2 cups hot water
Juice of 1 lime
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and the gorgeous caviar scraped out.

  1. Stone the cherries and cut into two.
  2. Dunk the peaches in hot water and then cold water to remove the skin. Cut into chunks.
  3. In a jar or a bowl add the fruits and sugar and toss to coat. Pour in 1 cup of hot water. Add the scraped out vanilla as well as the stick. Also squeeze out the lime juice. Let this sit overnight or until 24 hours.
  4. If you like a smooth texture now is when you can use the stick blender to give you a more consistent jam. I like mine chunky so skipped this step all together.
  5. The next day, transfer this to a large post and let it simmer, stirring frequently for 40-50 minutes or until the texture is a little more runny than what you’d like (because, as it cools it is going to thicken). Add up to 1 more cup of water whenever you feel that the preserve is rather chunky.
  6. Once cooked, let it cool. Transfer to sterlised jars to preserve.
Peach and Cherry Jam with Vanilla caviar

Excellent resource for canning and preserves: “How to make marmalades”

{ 27 comments }

Homemade Vanilla Sugar and Vanilla Extract

July 25, 2008

Ever since I learnt how wonderfully fragrant real vanilla is, I’ve wanted to get my hand on the real McCoy. Although vanilla grows in South India, it’s mostly exported, having hardly any value in Indian cuisine. So all this while I used the bottled essence (while this isn’t as bad as it sounds). One fine day when I finally found vanilla beans at a gourmet store I was ecstatic! I started thinking of all the recipes I’ll use them in and how aromatic my desserts will become with the real vanilla bean. :D

To have a predominant flavour of vanilla in almost everything, I made vanilla sugar and vanilla extract.

You can use vanilla sugar in place of granulated sugar. Use it to flavour tea, coffee, cookies, cakes, pies or sprinkle on fruits – whatever you fancy. You can use the homemade vanilla extract in place of the store bought extract and have a more pronounced flavour of the vanilla. My extract is only two days old but it already smells so good!

Vanilla Sugar

  • 1 whole vanilla bean
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  1. Place the vanilla bean into a airtight glass jar and completely cover it with the sugar.
  2. Shake the container once a day.
  3. The sugar is ready to be used within two weeks.
  4. The vanilla bean can be reused to flavor additional granulated sugar.




Vanilla Extract

  • 180 ml/6 fl oz. vodka
  • 2 vanilla beans (or more)
  1. Split the vanilla beans, then cut into half and drop it into a sterilised bottle with vodka.
  2. Give it a good shake everyday.
  3. The extract will be ready for use in 6-8 weeks. You can let the beans remain in the bottle so it’s only get more flavourful by the day.

For both the extract and the sugar, you could also add used vanilla beans – they still have a tonne of flavour left.

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