vanilla extract Archives - Passionate About Baking

“The 12-step chocoholics program: NEVER BE MORE THAN 12 STEPS AWAY FROM CHOCOLATE!”

Terry Moore

I had these little beauties tucked away in my drafts folder for a bit. They are a variation on the regular vanilla cupcakes I often make, but this time I decided to give them a vanilla overdose! Three types of vanilla in there, and they sang the vanilla anthem! Always fun to try a twist on a recipe which is a keeper and works well with variations.

A short post today as the kitchen is under renovation and not much baking is happening. When we built our house almost 12 years ago, modular kitchens were almost unheard of here. So the kitchen was built with bricks and mortar, and getting that hammered down is taking LONG! Longer and more dusty than I envisaged. They say it’ll take another 3 weeks, maybe more, to complete and being kitchen-less is not an easy situation.

I have been reduced to making Brownies, Cappuccino cupcakes and Oat and chocolate energy bars for snack box fillers as they seem the simplest and least time consuming under the given circumstances. Might take a stab at a cobbler tomorrow as the fruits are beckoning me again, but time and energy levels will tell. The heat and humidity is not leaving us at all, and the only ray of hope sometimes is that ‘Time flies. This too shall pass!’

Before I get to the recipe, it’s time to announce the winner for the business card giveaway hosted by my sponsor Uprinting

The winner of 500 Premium Business Cards {Print Business Cards} is Amanda from Amanda’s Cooking. Congratulations Amanda! Will contact you by email shortly.

Deluxe Triple Vanilla and Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter; room temperature

3/4 cup vanilla sugar

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped

2 cups plain flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 pinch salt

1 cup milk, room temperature

100gms dark chocolate, melted and divided

1 tbsps low fat cream

Method:

Place 1/4 cup milk in a pan, place the scraped vanilla bean and shell in it, and simmer till it scalds {bubbles form around the edges}. Leave to cool.

Remove the vanilla bean from the milk, scrape the seeds and add to the milk. Put all the milk back together to make a cupful. {Gently wash the bean under running water, and allow to dry. Place in a lidded jar of plain granulated sugar to make vanilla sugar. Shake once in a while. You should have vanilla sugar in 5-6 days}

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt. Reserve in a bowl.

Beat the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again.

Add 1/3 flour mix, and beat in on low speed, followed by 1/3 vanilla milk. Repeat 2 more times, finishing with the milk. Remove 1/4 of the batter to a bowl and stir in half the melted chocolate.

Pour the vanilla batter equally into 12 lined muffin tins, and add a dollop of chocolate batter over each. Swirl gently if you like.

Bake at 180C for approximately 20 minutes, until risen and done.

Topping:
Stir 1 tbsp cream into the remaining melted chocolate and drizzle over the cupcakes once cooled.

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

“The centuries last passed have also given the taste important extension; the discovery of sugar, and its different preparations, of alcoholic liquors, of wine, ices, vanilla, tea and coffee, have given us flavors hitherto unknown.”

Jean Anthelme Brillat–Savarin

HIC!! Had a spirited day last week; make that a highly spirited one!! Have long longed to make my own vanilla extract, pure as pure can be, after I saw a couple of enterprising bloggers who made their own & blogged about it. I saw it most recently here on a post by Coco @ Ambrosia…the post of the extract & vanilla sugar sure had me drooling. I had a bunch of vanilla beans that Rachel @ Tangerine’s Kitchen had sent earlier from Chennai which I had used up steadily over my months of baking. Begged my bewildered sis in Dallas to send me some…she sent me some ‘Madagascar’ beans (as she rubbed it in), & never let me hear the end of it. I hope she’s happy that they have finally met their maker in vodka, & have, in true spirit, happily resigned to their fate!!! (When I asked her for rennet at another time, she threatened to send me a water buffalo too). She thinks I’ve lost it completely…LOL…maybe I have, but this is therapeutic!!

Are ‘these’ vanilla beans? O for heavens sake, before Rachel couriered me some beans, I spent days in excited anticipation awaiting some plump looking, exotic & fragrant vanilla pods. I saw these gnarled out twiggy creatures, looking completely emaciated…& was pretty baffled. Then, when I was expecting the beans from the US, I thought they must be the plump ones for sure. Not a chance…just as gnarled as their Indian cousins…what a let-down! The first time I opened the bean to scrape out the tiny pods completely ignited my senses…there was the magic of this bean!!

The gnarly and ugly looking vanilla bean usually sold in a glass tube may look unpalatable, but once you take it out, split it open and scrape the tiny pods, the exotic aroma will knock you over. You will never want to use the artificial substitute if you can afford true vanilla. The first use of vanilla dates back to Mexico, where the Aztecs used it to create a drink called Xoco–lall, made from cocoa and vanilla beans. Cortez is credited with bringing vanilla back to Spain and soon, its use spread to other parts of Europe. Today, vanilla beans from Madagascar are the gold standard to which all others are compared.The vanilla plant, Vanilla planifolia, is a slender, green-stemmed creeping or climbing perennial of the orchid family. Cultivating vanilla beans is a lengthy and labor-intensive process, as each flower must be hand pollinated to ensure it produces a bean. To complicate matters, a flower only lives for one day. Its beans grow to between 6 and 10 inches long and resemble a green string bean.

Vanilla Extract from Ambrosia
(I doubled the amounts)
Ingredeints:
180 ml/6 fl oz. vodka
2 vanilla beans (or more)

Method:

Split the vanilla beans, then cut into half and drop it into a sterilised bottle with vodka.
Give it a good shake everyday.
The extract will be ready for use in 6-8 weeks. You can let the beans remain in the bottle so it’s only get more flavourful by the day.
For both the extract and the sugar, you could also add used vanilla beans – they still have a tonne of flavour left.

As I sign off this post, I’d like to say THANK YOU to Amanda @ My Finds Online for including my blog in her list of ‘50 great recipe blogs’ & for sending me this badge.

I am elated, Amanda…thanks a lot!

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Tag: vanilla extract

Deluxe Triple Vanilla Chocolate Cupcakes…

HIGH ON VANILLA…PUTTING THE SPIRIT BACK IN THE BEANS!

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