I find the colour of vanilla extract fascinating. It starts completely clear like water and then turns into this black and red, depending on the lighting, magic potion of flavour. 😋
How to:
Cut a bunch of vanilla beans in half lengthwise and scrape roughly.
Stuff the beans in a clean bottle together with the scraped vanilla.
Cover with a neutral tasting vodka.
Make sure nothing sticks out and no vanilla is on the rim before closing the bottle. This is important.
Let it infuse at room temp for 6-12 months, tasting every ~3 months to determine if it is strong enough for you.
Strain.
If you notice mould or other growths or a rancid or rotten smell, toss the whole batch. This means there was vanilla sticking out or stuck to the rim of the bottle, or the bottle wasn't clean.
For this batch, I used 20 vanilla beans in 750ml of vodka and it took ~9 months to get a deep and intense flavour. The beans are still quite potent after this and I am doing a second run on them.
The amount of vanilla to use is a trade off between the cost of the vanilla, the intensity of the flavour, and the time it takes to infuse.
If you use less vanilla, it takes longer to infuse. Unless you go to extremes like adding a single bean to a whole bottle, in which case the flavour will never be super intense.
If you use more vanilla then it will go quicker and you may still have very flavourful beans when you're done, which you can use for a second run or for a dessert with a twist. 🍹
What I find very satisfying is that this extract is way stronger than what I can find on the store shelves here and it cost me less than half of the price per litre to make.
#makeyourown #vanillaextract #recipe #alcohol
