In many of our baking recipes, vanilla is among the ingredients. We use it in cake, cookies, ice cream and all kinds of desserts. But what exactly is vanilla? Vanilla is a deliciously scented spice that comes from the Vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia) in the form of vanilla pods.
The fruits of the plant resemble pods, but they are actually the berries of the plant. They are picked, heated moist and dried and then they are the well-known dark brown vanilla sticks.
Originally from Mexico, the plant has also been cultivated in Europe and their colonial regions since the early 1800s. The Bourbon vanilla - from the island of Reunion that used to be called Bourbon - is worldwide considered as the very best quality.
Dr Oetker's vanilla aroma costs € 0.99
The vanilla extract by Nielsen Massey costs € 6.99.
Dr Oetkers's 10 sachets of vanilla sugar costs € 0.69
Two vanilla beans by Fiddes Payne (no longer available) € 6.99
The vanilla sugar is very do-able: every time you have used a vanilla pod, stick the scraped empty pod in a tightly closed jar with sugar. If you have the patience to leave it be for a few months, it's delicious!
Vanilla extract is very expensive to make yourself, so only if you use a lot of it it is more economical. It is really super tasty, we have to say that! But we usually stick to Nielsen Massey, both for the vanilla extract as for vanilla pods, although the pods cost € 4.99 each (A-class). We still keep them in the aluminum tube in which we once bought the Fiddes Payne vanilla pods, but they have not been for sale for a while, not even at amazon.co.uk
Sometimes just for fun we make a little bottle vanilla extract, with 2/3 wodka, 1/3 rum and 4 vanilla sticks. Because we always have a lot of fun (this time without our mini-monsters!) trying out new recipes in the kitchen. So besides the spectacular taste difference, the making of vanilla extract to us certainly has the added value of pleasure too!
Anyway, if you get started with this recipe, we wish you a lot of fun!