Vanilla Extract Recipe

All you need is just 2 ingredients to make Vanilla Extract at home. Vanilla Extract is a handy ingredient to flavor milk, desserts, sweets and cakes. Vanilla Extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol and it is so much easy and cost effective to make at home.

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Vanilla Extract is a quick and easy to make at home. Homemade Vanilla Extract needs just 2 ingredients : vanilla beans and alcohol. Homemade Vanilla Extract is very cost effective and good when compared to store bought ones. You can even make Vanilla Sugar at home using vanilla beans.

About Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Extract also known as Vanilla Essence or Vanilla Syrup is one of the main flavoring ingredient in baking. Homemade Vanilla Extract is very easy and quick to make. Just pour alcohol over split vanilla beans and let the concoction age over time. It takes at least 7-8 weeks for it to get ready. Give it a shake every now and then. Homemade Vanilla Extract keeps fresh good for years.

You will need good quality vanilla beans and it took me sometime to hunt for it and finally found it online. The alcohol or liquor you you either use rum or brandy or vodka. I used vodka and its going to be almost a month and the flavor is so good now itself, the more you give resting time the more you the flavor you will get.

The vanilla beans continue to flavor the liquid it is submerged in and the alcohol acts as a preservative. Actually you can add the vanilla bean as such too but I cut it into pieces so that it gets fully submerged inside the liquid.

Learning How to make Vanilla Extract is quite simple and easy as it needs only 2 ingredients and just few minutes to combine both. Homemade Vanilla Extract makes all the baked goodies taste incredible.

Why Homemade Vanilla Extract?

You can get vanilla extract readily and easily in supermarkets but homemade vanilla extract is not only cost effective but the strength of flavor is totally controlled by you. Many store bought vanilla essence does not give the needed depth of flavor.

Source good vanilla beans and add alcohol to it and let it do the rest. After you make your homemade vanilla extract I am sure you will not buy store bought ones. Try just opening a bottle of store bought vanilla essence and homemade vanilla extract and see the difference for yourself.

Homemade Vanilla Syrup saves money, easily re-fillable and also makes a great Christmas gift.

What you need?

• Glass jars or Glass Bottles with a tight lid
• Vanilla Beans
• Vodka
• Sharp knife
• Kitchen scissors

How to store Vanilla Extract?

Store your homemade vanilla extract in cool place. Keep it out of reach from direct sunlight.

Always use sterilized glass jars with a tight seal. Shake the bottle once a week then keep it. The only thing about Homemade Vanilla is that it takes time – you will need to wait at least for 7-8 weeks for it to get fully done.

You can make some today and it will be ready in 3 months. You can continue to add alcohol to the bottle as you use it. Check out Tips section for more detailed explanation.

Vanilla Extract Ingredients

• Vanilla Beans – Buy good quality vanilla beans. Vanilla beans graded as ‘B’ are mainly used for making vanilla extract.
• Vodka – Vodka is most commonly used to make vanilla extract but you can also use bourbon, rum or brandy too. Do not buy flavored alcohol.

Vanilla Extract Recipe Step by Step

1.Get the ingredients ready. Source vanilla bean first, make sure to buy good quality vanilla bean for best results.

2.First slit open the vanilla bean.

3.Scrap the vanilla using a sharp knife.

4.Scrap it as much as possible.

5.Make sure you use a clean dry glass bottle. Add the scraped vanilla to the bottle first. Repeat to finish.

6.Cut the vanilla bean into small pieces and add it to the bottle. You can add the bean as such too if it fits inside your bottle.

7. Vanilla beans and scraped vanilla is added to the bottle.

8.Measure and keep the vodka ready.

9.Add it to the bottle.

10.Close with lid.

11.Shake well and set aside to rest.

12.I added few pieces in another small bottle too and added remaining vodka to it.

Shake it at least once a week. It takes at least 8 weeks for the flavor and color to get steeped in fully.The more time you keep the flavor is good. It takes time to rest to develop flavor so don’t be in a hurry- the longer it rests the deeper color you can see.

Below what you can see is the result after 4 weeks.

Store it in a cool dry place.

Expert Tips

• Always use good quality vanilla beans, Grade B vanilla beans is best for making vanilla syrup.
• Sterilize the bottle well before making it.
• As we are adding vanilla beans paste and the pod directly in the vodka the vanilla essence will have speckles of vanilla bean seeds in your baked goodies which will make it more flavorful.
• Avoid flavored vodka as they might be loaded with artificial flavors.

FAQS

1.What type of vanilla beans should I use?

Use good quality vanilla beans for best results. Grade B vanilla beans are best suited to make vanilla extract also less expensive when compared to Grade A.

2.What can I replace vodka with?

You can either use rum or brandy or bourbon replacing vodka.

If you have any more questions about this Vanilla Extract Recipe do mail me at [email protected]. In addition, follow me on Instagram, Facebook,  Pinterest, Youtube and Twitter .

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