As it turns out, waiting six months for our vanilla extract was not easy but we did our best to remain patient. Mom diligently shaked the extract every week as suggested, and we watched as it turned more and more amber in colour. When the three-month mark came around, we got a little nervous and started second guessing our decision to only cut the beans in half instead of into smaller pieces or splitting the beans to expose the seeds.
So after some humming and hawing we decided to rectify the situation and opened one of the jars. It was a messy endeavor, but we managed to squeeze out the seeds from the centre of the beans. Once was enough though, and we left the other jars alone to see if it made any difference in the long run.
After our little side experiment we went back to waiting another three months. When we were weeks away from the 6-month mark Mom, Dad and I took my grandmother thrifting around the city when we came across some cute glass bottles. Mom immediately knew they would be perfect for our extract. They were the right size and amber in colour. As we mentioned in the previous post, extract like wine keeps better when it is exposed to less light. So storing extract in amber bottles is preferred over clear. There really is nothing better than a good thrift store find!
When the sixth month mark finally came around it just wasn’t the right time to try the extract, so we let a few more months passed. In July we knew we were ready but were faced with a baking obstacle I bring up every summer. The heat! We didn’t want to turn on the oven. Mom also wanted us to choose a dessert that would allow vanilla to shine. In the end we decided that a custard sauce would be the perfect way to test our extract. As it was the middle of summer, and stone fruits were in season, we knew that stewed peaches would be the perfect pairing with the custard sauce.
We chose right and were thrilled with the custard sauce and the quality of the vanilla flavour. Because we made the custard with our extract and not the others, it was a little difficult to tell if ours was better. Mom, who I am almost positive is a super taster felt that it was, but we wanted to be sure. So we devised a way to compare the extracts in what we are now calling “The Milk Test”.
Now, “The Milk Test” is in no way an official way of comparing vanilla, at least as far as we know but it sure does sound good. We just knew we needed something neutral in flavour, had some fat and was easy to compare.
The contenders in our experiment were:
- Store brand artificial vanilla extract
- Store brand pure vanilla extract
- Our homemade vanilla extract
Although curious to see how our extract would compare to an expensive bottle of pure vanilla extract, we are not about to go and buy one when we have all this extract. So we are just comparing it to the extracts we always have on hand when baking.
We measured out two ounces of 2% milk into three glasses and added ½ tsp of vanilla extract to each glass. First, we tried ours, and found that the vanilla was subtle, smooth, and tasty. Next, we tried the pure vanilla extract and were surprised by the strange aftertaste immediately present after the note of vanilla. We tasted ours once more and concurred it was more pleasant. That being said, when we use the store brand pure vanilla extract the after taste is not present.
Next, we tasted the artificial extract and were once again surprised by its taste. This time there wasn’t an after taste, but it tasted more like coconut then vanilla. So all in all we’ve decided that we prefer our homemade extract. So there you have it, our verdict!
Now although we have decided that we prefer our homemade extract they all have their places in baking. If you want the vanilla to be the star and it is not competing with another flavour like chocolate, then a higher quality vanilla extract is preferred. However, if you are using it with competing flavours then artificial extract works well. Vanilla seems to be one of those flavours that enhances other flavours so we feel you can’t really go too wrong.
We were so happy with the Madagascar vanilla extract that we decided to make extract using Tahitian beans this time round. You might be interested to know that squeezing the seeds out of the Madagascar beans did not make a huge difference in the long run, but we did do something a little different with our first batch of Tahitian vanilla extract. You’ll have to stay tuned for Part 3 to find out what we did differently and how that turned out. And we may have expanded our extract making experiment to other flavours, so there are more posts to come! See you then.
