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Know everything about vanilla

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Know Everything About Vanilla

When you decide the time is right to buy vanilla, what type and how much you buy will depend on what your needs are. If you are just looking for some vanilla extract to do some general baking with, you can find this product at your local grocery store for a reasonable price.

If you want to make your own vanilla product such as vanilla paste, sugar, powder or extract, then you will want to head to a gourmet foods store where you can purchase vanilla beans. Let us review the different products and discuss what you might use each variation for.

To make your own vanilla powder, start by buying vanilla beans. Grind them into a fine powder with the use of a coffee grinder or food mill. The drier the beans are the more powdery the results will be. This product contains no alcohol so the flavor so lengthy cooking times will not have a negative impact on the taste. This is the ideal choice for white items since there is no colored tint that could change the color of your foods. It is also a flavorful alternative to the traditional vanilla extract.

To make sweetened vanilla powder, follow the same steps as above to grind your beans in a coffee grinder or food mill. Once you have ground the beans to powder, mix powdered sugar in with them until you have reached the desired sweetness. This powder directly sprinkled on foods such as waffles and pancakes, fruit, oatmeal and other products will add a rich and flavorful vanilla taste. Either of these powder variations should be stored in the pantry in an airtight container away from heat sources and direct light.

To turn regular sugars into vanilla sugar simply use a jar with a tight fitting lid. Fill the jar with sugar and add one or two vanilla beans cut down the center lengthwise to the jar. Make sure that you have buried the vanilla beans in the sugar. Place the lid on tight and allow it to sit on your shelf, untouched for at least one week. The longer it remains unopened, the more the sugar will absorb the vanilla flavoring from the beans. You can then use this sugar directly on foods, in hot beverages or in place of regular sugar in recipes where you want to add additional vanilla flavoring.

Homemade vanilla paste and extract are also popular reasons to buy vanilla. Each one of these products is easy to make. To create your own extract, add eight beans split down the center lengthwise to a jar. Fill the jar with enough vodka to completely cover the beans. Seal the jar tightly and allow the mix to cure in the pantry for a minimum of two months. Use this in place of traditional extract in all of your favorite recipes.

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To create your own vanilla paste, split four beans down the center, lengthwise. Lay them on a sheet of either wax or parchment paper and allow them to dry until they feel brittle. Grind them in a spice grinder until they become powder and mix them with corn syrup. Store this mixture in the refrigerator for up to one week. Either of these products can replace the extract in your favorite recipes.

Now know the facts about vanilla pods

A vanilla pods is the most authentic gourmet form of vanilla. This type of dried, cured pods of vanilla is very difficult to find and that is why vanilla pods come with costly price tags. Vanilla pods come with amazing flavour and it adds aesthetic aroma to any kind of foods.

There you can find different species of vanilla orchids throughout the world but only three types are orchids are used for vanilla products and they are all derived from an orchid called vanilla planifolia. This type of orchid was cultivated by ancient pre-Colombian people native to the gulf coast of Mexico.

The usage of vanilla pods started globally in the late 19th century and nowadays it has become an inevitable part of cooking because it is used for making most of the modern day’s preparations. If you are going to cook any kind Mexican food, vanilla pods are the most important thing that you will need.

After saffron, vanilla pods is considered to be the second most expensive spice. Apart from culinary usages, a vanilla pod is used for making perfume, sea food, pipe, tobaccos and cigars.

If you are not familiar with vanilla pods then it is really important to know how to open these beans and use it properly before using it.

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Vanilla pods come with very distinctive scent and it can be identified by smelling the typical scent of vanilla.

Just because of unique smell of vanilla pods, it is also used in aromatherapy. The smell of vanilla used for four main purposes of aromatherapy-

Aphrodisiac

Relaxing

Heightening the appreciation for beauty

Uplifting

The scent of vanilla is really appealing to both men and women and that is why most of the women use this for attracting men.

Finding vanilla pods could be a daunting job for you if you do not know where to find it. But fortunately now you can easily order vanilla pods online as there are lots of online stores offering vanilla pods at discounted price. Buying vanilla pods online is always been a good decision but one thing you need to remember that you should buy it from an authentic online shop only.

You can make a lot of things by using vanilla pods but it is really important to know some tricks and tips in order to it.

Here I am going to tell you about vanilla powder

Vanilla powder, made from ground, dried vanilla beans is a high quality alternative to the traditional vanilla extract. It does not contain alcohol, which can cause

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traditional vanilla extract to evaporate during the cooking or baking process. This product is available in both sweetened and unsweetened varieties and is delicious in everything from baked goods to specialty drinks.

Sweetened vanilla powder is made from ground beans but has ground sugar or powdered sugar added to it. Choose the one you need according to the recipe that you are following. If you are substituting unsweetened powder for extract, use half of the amount that the recipe calls for. For instance, if the recipe requires that you use a teaspoon of the extract, you would only need a half of a teaspoon of the powder. The powder will provide the recipe with a rich, fuller vanilla flavor than the extract does.

Store the remaining product in your pantry in an airtight container. Keep it away from moisture and extreme temperature changes. For best results, do not store this product over your stove. When properly stored, this product will not spoil. Traditional extract will spoil after a long period of time in the pantry.

Since ground vanilla beans make up this product, it is aesthetically pleasing. It features bits of beans and, when used in recipes, can help make the final product look fancier. Many cooks like to use this product to make frostings and other highly visible products as the

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pieces of the beans make the finished product look more professional.

Additionally, it does not contain agents that will darken white icing or white cake recipes the way that traditional extract does. Since it contains no alcohol and it dissolves quickly, it makes an ideal addition in hot beverages including hot chocolate, tea and coffee. Due to the lack of alcohol, its flavor is not altered during long periods of cooking or baking. When adding vanilla powder to your favorite hot beverage you might consider using the sweetened version.

It is possible to make your own vanilla powder from home. Simply process some dried beans in a food processer or coffee grinder. The drier the vanilla beans are the more powdery the result will be. Keep this product stored in an airtight container as mentioned above for best results and longest shelf life. If using a coffee grinder, ensure that it has been thoroughly cleaned from all coffee residues. If any coffee remains, it will alter the flavor of the vanilla powder that you make.

Vanilla powder is harder to find and will cost more than traditional store bought extract. For this reason, many chefs do not use it all the time but instead use it only on special occasions. They may also use it when they want their baked goods to look more professional. It is

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hard to find in a regular grocery store but is readily available in health food stores and gourmet shops where specialty items are more common.