For those of you who make your own vanilla extract, a couple of questions:
1) From where do you purchase your vanilla beans and which type do you typically use?
2) Do you prefer to use rum or vodka?
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For those of you who make your own vanilla extract, a couple of questions:
1) From where do you purchase your vanilla beans and which type do you typically use?
2) Do you prefer to use rum or vodka?
6 Comments
Beanilla brand or Madagascar beans
3/4 cup vodka, 1/4 cup bourbon, both 80 or higher proof. You want your vanilla to taste like vanilla, not rum or bourbon. I use a bit of bourbon just so I can say that I use "real bourbon vanilla," because real Bourbon vanilla doesn't actually contain bourbon--it's called that because the vanilla comes from the Bourbon Islands.
I have five bottles of vanilla in my cabinet right now, and each is used for a different reason: McCormick pure extract, Wilton Clear artificial vanilla, Nielsen Massey Madagascar bourbon, a bottle with a peeled-off label that a daughter-in-law's mother brought back from Mexico and my homemade, which I use mostly for whipped cream and real buttercream (I think it mutes the somewhat eggy taste of the buttercream).