Desperate times call for desperate measures. And a baker who’s run out of vanilla definitely qualifies as desperate.
Normally I would go to the local Penzey’s store and buy up $100 worth of stuff when I only needed one thing. Penzey’s is great, both for their spices and their commitment to social justice.
Luckily, I’m also a person with ton of vodka and some vanilla beans in the house. I cut the beans in half and then sliced them lengthwise down the middle and added them back to my empty Penzey’s bottle. I filled it up with Tito’s and waited… and waited… (could have had an online order from Penzey’s by now)… Still waiting… Shaking occasionally…
It smells delicious and I strained it through a coffee filter to remove any little bits of bean.
Ta-Da!
TIL i have no idea where vanilla comes from….
i assume it grows on trees….like spaghetti
It’s a type of orchid!
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily obtained from pods of the Mexican species, flat-leaved vanilla (V. planifolia). The word vanilla, derived from vainilla, the diminutive of the Spanish word vaina (vaina itself meaning a sheath or a pod), is translated simply as “little pod”. Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican people cultivated the vine of the vanilla orchid, called tlīlxochitl by the Aztecs.
thank you 🙂
This reminds me — infused liquors are fun to mess around with. Homemade gin, limoncello, European grandpa digestifs are easy to make. And if you screw up, assuming you’re not using pricey vodka, not a big deal to dump and try again.
I love making limoncello. The first time I tried this I put the container in one of our shared closets to steep (you put it in a cool, dark place for a couple of weeks or more.) I forgot to tell my husband I was doing this and he found it.
“Are you hiding liquor? We have a full bar. Or wait, are you an alcoholic and you’re trying to hide your drinking?”
“No, you idiot. Although God knows I drink too much. I’m making my own.”
“You have a still around here somewhere?”
I explained limoncello, which we had both had, more than once, in Italy no less. “My smart husband, the moonshiner!”
I made Aquavit, that was fun, and really delicious with a seeded rye. What vodka do you use? I used Svedka. Next time I’m going to do a chili pepper vodka. hmm, maybe I’ll do that today…
I’ve used Svedka. It’s moderately priced and does the trick. Seagram’s and Smirnoff have won all kinds of taste-test awards (!) so I use those because they’re cheap. Basically anything that won’t cause blindness, because the lemons are supposed to take over and provide the flavor.
You know what’s really good is if you get a decent dark rum (here, flavor is important) and infuse it with bananas. It doesn’t look pretty, the bananas will start to look poisonous pretty quick, but you strain the rum and you can drink it straight. In fact I find it doesn’t really mix very well and should be drunk straight.
Do you mash up the bananas or just like a whole damn banana in there? I need some uses for sad bananas besides banana bread.
How does it compare to Penzey’s?
Penzey’s is superior. This worked, in a pinch, but it is strong on the alcohol side.
Maybe if it soaks longer it’ll continue to improve.
The longer steep time will probably help, but I’d go with a different alcohol next time😉💖
I make mine, too. I buy the Penzey’s beans, then split them lengthwise, and soak then in a mixture of a little over 50%/50% Captain Morgan Spiced rum, and Two Gingers whiskey…
I usually soak mine for a few months (I make a half-gallon or so at a time), but since I only ran out of the *last* batch recently–not much time to bake when you’re in college!–the current batch has been steeping for… ha!🤣 apparently today is it’s 4th birthday!🥳 (I wrote on the lid, when I started it, and the date was 4/26/16)
I’ve finally got my smaller jars here at the apartment, so I’ll be straining it off, and using the beans to make Vanilla Sugar, soon.
Thanks for the pro-tips!!
Does this go well with avocado?
No,