

This is my favorite use, and what I always do with my scraped vanilla pods. Dry the bean, then grind it into a vanilla powder.Or place it in a bottle of vanilla extract so any trace amounts of vanilla seeds can add extra flavor to the extract. Place the bean in a canister of sugar to infuse the sugar with vanilla flavor.You’ll need to let it steep for at least 8 weeks, but 6 months will make it even more flavorful. I’d recommend about 8-10 beans inside of a pint jar of vodka. Steep the scraped vanilla beans in vodka to make your own vanilla extract.After scraping out the seeds, there are a few ways you can use up the empty pod, but definitely don’t throw it away! I use it in homemade ice cream, custards and cream pies, and the black specks of vanilla bean look just beautiful. Vanilla bean isn’t just for cakes, either. Grade B Tahitian Vanilla Beans won’t be quite as big and plump, but are still quite decent for the price. The Grade A Tahitian Vanilla Beans will be bigger and plumper, with more seeds inside. I’ve been buying Tahitian vanilla beans online, and they are actually quite affordable at the moment, much more so than what you’d find at your local grocery store or spice shop. In my vanilla cake recipe, I rub the vanilla bean seeds into the sugar before mixing up the cake batter, which infuses the sugar with as much vanilla flavor as possible. When you split open a vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds, the scent is intoxicating. There’s nothing quite like the flavor and aroma of real vanilla beans. When flavoring your vanilla cake, you can use real vanilla beans, vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract, and each has something a little different to offer.

1 LAYER VANILLA CAKE RECIPE HOW TO
TIP: Be sure to check out my post on How to Make Homemade Vanilla Extract. The entire process of growth to export of 1 vanilla bean takes a whole year. And after the harvesting the beans, they still need to be dried and cured. The orchids flower just once a year, and the pollination must take place on that day. The hand pollination process is difficult and labor intensive, requiring skill and experience. Vanilla comes from an orchid plant, and while there are 100+ varieties of orchids, only one, the vanilla planifolia, grows vanilla beans. The other major contributing factor to the high price of vanilla is the fact that the plant is just so difficult to grow.
1 LAYER VANILLA CAKE RECIPE SERIES
In recent years, the cost of vanilla skyrocketed, due to a series of storms that ravaged the island, destroying the plants and driving up vanilla prices to almost 10 times what they were a few years before. And vanilla beans are a very difficult crop to grow and cultivate, so I have great respect for vanilla!Ībout 80% of the world’s vanilla beans are grown on the island of Madagascar. Vanilla is a complex flavor that pairs so beautifully with so many other ingredients. I genuinely love vanilla, and I don’t think there’s anything plain about it, really. All opinions expressed on this site are my own. This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Update: I originally published this recipe in 2015, but have updated the post and recipe in 2023. Looking for more high altitude cake recipes? Don’t miss this brown butter carrot cake, chocolate fudge cake, and mint chocolate chip cake. And for an eggless vanilla cake, be sure to see the recipe variations section. You’ll love this delicious and versatile high altitude vanilla cake recipe! It’s just the perfect choice for a birthday party or special occasion cake that will please everyone. This is also an incredibly easy cake to make, requiring nothing more than just whisking the ingredients together in a bowl before baking.

The cake crumb is beautiful and moist, even days after baking. My vanilla cake is so soft, light and fluffy, thanks to a generous amount of buttermilk, with a delicious flavor from real vanilla beans and butter. So getting down to basics today, I’m sharing my High Altitude Vanilla Cake recipe. A vanilla or chocolate cake is often the starting point for other cake flavors, so it’s important to have a perfect foundation for your baking projects.
