I cant believe this is happening! I've emptied the pantry, I've looked in the overstock, I've look everywhere! I'm out of vanilla! There is not a single drop to be found in the house. How in the world did I let that happen? I have a cake in the oven, a small three layers chocolate/cookie and cream/chocolate chip cookie cake and I do not have any vanilla for the buttercream. I think I'm going to cry.
I know, I'm a drama Queen...
Ha Ha...I feel you’re pain Laetia!!!! About a year ago I ran out of vanilla. Prices were through the roof. So I ordered, I know sacrilege, artificial vanilla from Amazon. Four bottles. Since I only bake for family, so not a biggie not to have the real deal. I did bite the bullet and bought some vanilla beans from Costco and made up a bottle of vanilla. Just as I finished my “fake” vanilla my homemade vanilla was ready. Then my son and another friend went away to Mexico and both bought me back a couple bottles of real vanilla. So now, I have a ton of vanilla. From famine to feast!!!
Julie, do you have any orange? I understand it is a wonderful combination with chocolate, although I've not tried it (it is on my list). Also, Almond would work well, if you have it on hand.
Another good choice to go with chocolate is peppermint or how about peanut butter?
Unfortunately, I do not own many extract. I only have caramel and cherry. I may use caramel, or just plain chocolate... But peanut butter is a great option too. Now I'm confuse!
Sandra, my fridge is full of orange and if the cake was for me, I would go that way by adding a bunch of zest. But the cake is for my god daughter who's turning 5 today and I'm not sure if orange is the best way to go for her. I will deliver the cake later today, on the porch of her house. No hug, no kiss, 6 feet of social distancing, but a lot of love. It's raining cats and dogs today. Yay!
June, I tought about making my own vanilla when it's price jumps sky high a year or 2 ago. Cant remember. Since vanilla bean and vodka are not cheap either, I figure it would be almost as expensive than buying a bottle at costco (wich was almost 50$, now it's closer to 40).
Ahh, since the cake was for your god-daughter Laetia, I can understand being concerned about the flavoring. And yes buying the vanilla beans wasn’t cheap, but I knew it would be cost effective in the long run. Everyone thinks you need grade “A” beans, but you don’t. I got some grade “B” beans because there cheaper and I wasn’t baking with them. I also didn’t start until I got the cheapest bottle of vodka on sale. That full bottle will take me ages to finish as I bake strictly as a hobby and for friends.
Laetia, caramel or cherry either would also taste great with chocolate. My last Icing Smiles cake was chocolate with peanut butter buttercream filling and frosting with chopped up Reeses Peanut Butter Cups in between the layers and on top. The children, ages five and six, loved the chocolate and peanut butter combination, as did the adults (including me). I just added a big blob of peanut butter to the frosting until I liked the taste.
About two years ago, after vanilla went sky high, I bought a 32 ounce bottle of Imperial Pure Vanilla Extract at a restaurant supply store for, I think, $75.00. The crap taste like water. About six months later, I bit the bullet and ordered a 32 ounce bottle of Neilsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, which cost around #135.00 dollar, but at least me bakes taste normal again! I still have about half a bottle left, so it lasts a long time.
Wow, this is expensive Sandra! Well 32 onces is quite a lot of vanilla though. I guess 135$ is a good price for that much.
I ended up making my buttercream with a super light chocolate flavor, combine with a touch of caramel extract. Not bad at all!
You know what, runing out of vanilla feels like loosing my security blanket, but hey, it's not the end of the world. Thank you ladies!
You would be surprised what you come up with when you have to, lol! Sounds delicious.
No, $135.00 is a horrible price for a quart of vanilla, but I didn't have any. The last time I purchased it before this, it was less than $40.00 including shipping. I hope someday it gets back to normal. Thank goodness I am only a hobby baker!
It is horrible, but if I run out and the price is out of sight high, I will still order it again. It was very disappointing to bake with marginal vanilla. Even at that price, it was cheaper than buying MaCormic at the grocery store.
OMG that has happened to me. Or, I've run out of meringue powder, powdered sugar... Or, half way thru a cake you discover the rest of the eggs you counted on using are hard boiled and put back in the same carton as the raw eggs. 2am run to the 24hr Walmart to save the cake!
We have not such thing (24 hour grocery) in this neck of the woods, lol. You'd just be out of luck.
We have not such thing (24 hour grocery) in this neck of the woods, lol. You'd just be out of luck.
We have no 24/7 around here either. But even if we had one of those, I dont think I would go to the store at such late hour in the middle of the night.
It' funny how 2am is considered "late and middle of the night" for me, and early hour for you kakeladi. Made me laugh!
Boyfriend is going to the store this morning and is going to buy artificial vanilla. On the other hand, I've just ordered a bunch of vanilla beans online to make my own extract. Anyone made it with brown rhum instead of vodka?
Laetia You can make vanilla with any type of rum or vodka. Dark rum will just enhance the flavour. You will probably have a very mildly rum flavoured vanilla. I actually had 3 vanilla pods left over from an order. And about 8 oz of vodka. Not enough to make a full bottle of pure vanilla. So I had some cinnamon sticks on hand and lemons. I washed and peeled the skin off the lemons. I put the lemon peel, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods and remaining vodka into a jar with a tight fitting lid. It has been percolating since July/2019. I opened the other day, and it smelled wonderful. Vanilla with the spices smell of cinnamon and lemon.
I've never made any extracts either, but June, your combination sounds fabulous! Like Lynne, I am tempted to give it a try.
I did try and make almond extract. Followed all the directions. About 40-50 blanched skinned almonds. Also percolating since July, a small 8 oz bottle. Was disappointed as no real “almond” smell when opened. So just a few days ago, I removed all the almonds and added another 30 almonds. This time I left on the skins, as I’ve since read that there is a lot of flavour in the skin of the almonds. Hopefully in another couple of weeks will be more almond smell when I open my bottle. I don’t think I’d make almond extract again. Takes a lot of almonds to achieve a good extract.
Oh, and as for vanilla, for a 26 oz bottle of alcohol, I tried the recommended 8-9 beans. Was a about 8 1/2 months when I opened the bottle. Of course once a month I shook the bottle. So you know it’s worked when you open the bottle and you no longer smell alcohol, but vanilla. There was still a very strong smell of alcohol. So after the 8 1/2 months, I added another 4 bean pods to the bottle. After 14 months, eureka!!!.....Vanilla. So you need the minimum of 12-14 bean pods to a 26 oz bottle of alcohol to achieve a proper vanilla. On Amazon, USA, you can get 10 grade B beans for $18. So two of those is $36 + delivery. Then there is the price of a bottle of vodka, which you in the USA can get a lot cheaper than here in Canada.
Wow that sounds to like there’s not much savings — might as well buy it from the store readymade I don’t buy any alcohol but a quick google search shows $15-50 for a fifth of vodka —rum just a few bucks less - so we’re up to about $65-75 for that 26 ozs
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