Vanilla Update

A little more than 2 months ago now, I wanted to try and make my own vanilla extract. I found a simple recipe online and then went out to find the vanilla beans (that took a little more work than finding the recipe…). Back home, I sliced them, put them in a neat recycled an old bottle, added the vodka, and it really was as easy as that. The hard part was waiting for the vodka to extract all the flavour.

Well, as you can see, the liquid has darkened significantly, and the smell inside is delightfully wonderful! The longer it sits, the stronger the flavour develops, but having waited long enough, I decided to add a couple tablespoons to a fresh batch of banana muffins to enhance the flavour. I’m not completely sure that the alcohol has dissipated, or even if it’s supposed to, but I don’t think that affects anything once you bake it.

It was a little hard to taste a difference between the homemade version and the artificial flavouring I usually use; I think I might need to find a different recipe that specifically tastes like vanilla. Back to the internet!