A little over a year ago, janjanmom introduced me to the joys of homemade vanilla. It was a Christmas Christmas gift that she made with her own two hands. It was divine, and I rationed it out over the course of several months, using it only for special cooking projects, and supplementing with Watkins vanilla for the run of the mill stuff. I finally used it all up and was sad, sad, sad. So, around January I decided to make some more.
All you do is split open some fresh vanilla beans, stuff them into a jar, cover them with vodka and let them steep in the dark for a few weeks until the liquid turns a nice mellow amber. Which I did. Only I used this instead of regular vodka:
Cake vodka. For the past three months that vanilla jar has been sitting in the cabinet doing its magic, and I have resisted the urge to open it except for a nice big whiff every now and then as I checked on its progress. Every time I thought it was done, I held off and let it sit a little longer. It has turned a dark golden color, and after three months, I have decided it is done.
Ooh, it is good. Real good. Good thing I made a big batch. Yes, I have a second jar brewing. I used some of the homemade vanilla in a recipe over the weekend, and declared it the nectar of the gods. As it's used you can top it off with a little more vodka, let it soak a little longer and get more use out of the beans. Hence the two jars. I can use one while the other is brewing again. The Hula-gen's may never buy store bought vanilla again. And bonus! Cake vodka has many uses.
2 comments:
Wow...never to old to learn something new. I just may try this! I love vanilla! Thanks for sharing!
MOST everyone who got this vanilla loved it...however the ones that have never and will never use it frustrate me. Would it be rude to request it back? LOL. It is soo good. :) I bet your cake vodka made it the cat's meow!
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