Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Making Vanilla

I really love to bake and none of that mix stuff for me!  I like to use the purest, freshest ingredients when I take the time to bake -- real freshly grated zest, butter, fresh eggs, grated chocolate, and pure vanilla -- none of those imitation extracts for me.  I honestly believe people can taste the difference.

  But real vanilla is expensive and in my college days I could only afford the imitation vanilla.  Now it really isn't an issue for me but $10+ a bottle is too much money.  So I started making my own vanilla a couple of years ago.  It's very simple, easy, and makes a great gift. 

I have lined up the ingredients in the above photo -- vanilla beans (these are the pricey part of the equation.  I've found Fresh and Easy has the best price in my area -- $2.49-5.49 for two beans.  The price is different each time I shop there.  I usually buy 10 bottles of beans when I make vanilla.  Then you need vodka, rum or brandy.  I use vodka -- no real reason, just what I chose.  I buy the cheap stuff for this (although seeing the bottle makes many vodka drinkers cringe) -- it's the vanilla bean that really matters.  You need some nice bottles with a narrow neck.  I ordered 3 or 4 ounce pharmacy bottles from beanilla.com a couple of  years ago.  I bought 36 of them.  You also need a cutting board and funnel.  I split two vanilla beans.
Then they get stuffed into the bottle.

Insert the funnel and fill the bottle with vodka (or rum or brandy).
Put the lid on the bottle and let it sit for 30 days.

Add a pretty label.  Mine is from the Martha Stewart collection and I wrote vanilla in cursive with a black felt tip pen.  Add a note card with a ribbon and you have a sweet little gift for a friend.  You can include a favorite recipe if you'd like, even the recipe for making vanilla.  And the best part is you never run out of vanilla, you can just keep adding your choice of liquor to the bottle to replenish your supply.  And, if your recipe calls for fresh vanilla bean, you can snip some off and add it. 

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