Saturday, May 15, 2010

VANILLA (I HOPE!!)



My mother is a bit of a jet-setter (in the travels alot sense of the word - not the partying all night one (I hope!!))  Sometimes I benefit wonderfully from her trips - never more so than last years venture to the Caribbean, when she brought me back a fantastic stock of vanilla extract and fat, juicy beans (nothing like the emaciated sticks we get here).  My vanilla extract has made it's last cake, so I have decided to have a go at making my own.

Seemingly all you do is divide your vanilla beans in two keeping them intact at the top - and then immerse them in vodka, leave to do its magic for about 8 weeks - hay presto.... beautiful (half the price of bought) vanilla extract!!

Vanilla Extract

4             very plump vanilla beans (use more if they are skinny)
350 ml     vodka (I imagine cheap stuff would be fine - I used what I had in the house)

Split the beans add to the vodka and store in a dark place (for some reason I imagine it should be stored in a dark place, probably would be fine anyplace!!) for about 8 weeks.  How easy is that. 


Will keep you posted!!

7 comments:

Lucie said...

Fab idea - I can't wait to see if it works! Lucie x

Anonymous said...

Great idea! Thanks for sharing. I am sure it will work!

My Little Space said...

Oh such a great idea! Hope you ahve a fabulous day!
Cheers, Kristy

Brownieville Girl said...

Lucie - love the new picture :-} Fingers crossed!

Ellie and MLS- thanks for stopping by :-}

Gloria Baker said...

I love this recipe!!! I have vodjka but not vanilla right now! I will buy! I think is a nice idea!! Thanks for stopping by at my blog! gloria

Anonymous said...

I have been doing it for years. It is great! My original bottle of vanilla has to be over 10 years old. I just keep on filling it up with vodka and shake every so often.

Do it with lemon rinds, orange rinds and lime rinds. This way you will have extracts from each of the citrus fruits. Pack a half bottle vodka with each rind until you can't fit anymore, add more vodka to cover. Shake every week for 2 months. Your done! You can do cinnamon extracts with cinnamon sticks, cloves, anise, etc...

Brownieville Girl said...

Wonderful idea Angela - have to replenish the Vodka supply first though!!