What’d You Do Last Weekend?
Want to try a gluten-free dessert that tastes anything but? How about hanging your lip on a Nanaimo bar? The recipe's from our neighbors up north, but the gluten-free graham crackers are a creation of Celiac Teen's Lauren. Unbelievable.
Homemade Vanilla with Small Batch Rum
A while ago my good friend Emma saw a variety pack of vanilla beans at a terrific price. Given that neither of us were professional (or even pretend) bakers any longer, we didn't have need for giant amounts of vanilla beans, but the price was good and we decided that splitting 4 dozen beans was worth it for a measley $12. Sure, some of the beans were lower grade, but some weren't - and in the end they turned out to be a terrific deal.
We got 2 different varieties - from Madagascar and from Tahiti, each in grade A and grade B quality. The beans from Madagascar were longer, lighter in color, drier in general, and had a smoky tobacco-like scent. The Tahitian beans were fatter, oily, and much darker and had the tobacco smell too, but also a floral hint underneath. I really wanted to test a pure Tahitian or a pure Madagascan extract, but given the fact that I have a lot of Mexican vanilla, vanilla bean paste, and now two dozen vanilla beans, I really didn't need two more varieties of extract to compete for my attention. I decided to be democratic about it and use one of each, both grade B.
The next big decision was what base to use for the extract. In the past, Emma had used vodka - and I remember donating some lovely Grey Goose for the cause. I'd been reading some suggestions about the base and found that some folks use brandy, others rum, and still others plainer grain alcohol like Everclear. But the old saying goes, garbage in, garbage out. We had a bottle of Rogue white rum that Todd had been sipping from the night before, and I decided that would be perfect. Locally produced (relatively), Rogue makes great product and this was no exception. I thought the flavor of the rum was complex and would compliment the vanilla in my desserts for some time to come. Plus, it would give me a very different vanilla flavor than all of the other vanilla products in my house.
I'd been doing some research on the steps to making homemade vanilla, and there were plenty of ways for me to work through a large number of those newly acquired beans. I decided to go a relatively simple, low impact route.
Homemade Vanilla
Rum, brandy, vodka, or any relatively clean-flavored liquor (amount depends on the amount you want to make)
2 vanilla beans
- Pour the liquor into a sterile jar with a tight-fitting lid.
- Scrape the vanilla seeds from both vanilla beans and place them into the jar. Place the scraped vanilla beans into the jar and seal tightly (I lined the mouth of the jar with plastic wrap to double-seal it).
- Shake the jar to distribute the beans, and store in a cool dark place. Shake twice weekly (or more) for 3 - 4 weeks or until the desired strength is achieved.
Note: If the vanilla doesn't seem to be strong enough for your taste, you can always add more seeds and beans after a few weeks of curing. My vanilla, with 4 beans, has been sitting for 5 months and it's still very rummy. I will probably add another couple of beans and stick it back in the closet for a few more months.
More useful hints:
- When you've used 3/4 of the homemade vanilla, add more liquor to the jar and start the process over again.
- If you don't want to start over, pull the vanilla pods out and allow them to dry. Add them to a jar of sugar and place in a dark cool spot for 2 - 3 weeks to make vanilla sugar.
- Use a spoon to dish out the vanilla seeds from the bottom of the jar and use them to flavor things like ice cream and creme brulee.
