Try our gorgeous Vanilla Bean Syrup with its tantalising aroma, it is ready in a few minutes and makes a great topping for fruit salads, ice cream or as a sweetener for your coffee.
What Are Vanilla Beans?
Vanilla beans are a fruit from a tropical climbing orchid, they are long and skinny dark brown pods with many health benefits.
It is a native plant of South and Central America and the Caribbean but the first people to have cultivated it are the Mexicans. To this day Papantla in Mexico still produces the best quality vanilla beans, while Madagascar is the highest producer of vanilla beans.
What Do They Taste Like?
Vanilla has a delicate sweet and woody, smoky flavour and the beans have an even more intense vanilla flavour and aroma.
Why Are Vanilla Beans So Expensive?
Vanilla is second to saffron as the most expensive spice to buy worldwide. Mainly because it is so difficult to grow, a vanilla vine takes 2-4 years to reach maturity and their flowers bloom only for one day a year. To produce beans the plants have to be pollinated THAT DAY and then the pods need several days to cure after harvesting.
This time consuming and labour intensive process is what makes your vanilla beans so pricey. ???
Where Can I Find Vanilla Beans?
They can be found in the spice section at the supermarket, from spice shops, or purchased online.
You can substitute with vanilla extract, boil the syrup first then stir through 2 teaspoons (or more) of pure vanilla extract once the syrup has cooled.
What Can I Use It On?
- Makes a sensational sweet dressing for fruit salads especially stone fruit and berry salads.
- A topping for ice cream
- As a sweetener for coffee
- Stir through whipped cream
- Whip through ricotta
- Drizzle on cakes or desserts such as lemon cheesecake or panacotta
You Will Need
How to Make It
- Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise with some force as it has a tough skin, slightly pull apart the bean to expose the seeds.
- Then hold a small, sharp knife at an angle to the bean and scrape the seeds from one end to the other.
- Place one cup of water and one cup of white sugar, the vanilla seeds and pods in a small saucepan.
- On a high heat bring it to a boil, lower the heat and gently simmer until the sugars has been completely dissolved (approximately 10 minutes).
- Allow to cool and pour into a glass container with a tight fitting lid.
- Store in a dark place in a tightly sealed glass container.
SCRAPE VANILLA POD ADD INGREDIENTS TO PAN BRING TO BOIL SIMMER TILL SUGAR DISSOLVES
How Much Does It Make?
This recipe makes approximately one and a half cups of syrup or 24 tablespoons. The nutritional information has been calculated per tablespoon.
How Long Can I Store It For?
Our vanilla bean syrup can be kept for up to one month if stored in a tightly sealed glass container in a dark place.
We Have Used It On....
Try It as an Alternative Dressing on…
Use a quarter or third of a cup vanilla bean syrup in place of the lime juice, kaffir limes and honey in the strawberry salad and instead of the lime juice in the mango salad.
Recipe Card
Instructions
- Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise with some force as it has a tough skin, slightly pull apart the bean to expose the seeds.
- Then hold a small, sharp knife at an angle to the bean and scrape the seeds from one end to the other.
- Place one cup of water and one cup of white sugar the vanilla seeds and pods in a small saucepan.
- On high heat bring it to a boil, lower the heat and gently simmer until the sugar has been completely dissolved (approximately 10 minutes).
- Allow to cool and pour into a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
- Store in a dark place in a tightly sealed glass container.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
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