Learnings About Vanilla

[kerravonsen]

The experiments continue. And I find out things about vanilla.

Tub 31: Vanilla Milk Ice Take Two

• 100ml boiling water
• 1 tablespoon gelatin
• 4 tablespoons Natvia
• 2 teaspoons Grade B Vanilla Bean Powder
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Caviar
• 400ml low fat milk

I was hoping that the gelatin would help prevent the vanilla bean powder from sinking or floating, but I was proved wrong. It both sank and floated! I reckon it was the Vanilla Caviar which sank, because that was definitely more dense than the ground bean powder.

Processed with the sorbet setting, all that vanilla bean powder turned the milk-ice an unappetising grey colour. The texture was good, I think it was less icy-feeling than the previous Vanilla Milk Ice, so at least the gelatin was good for something. But the vanilla-ness was mostly numbed away by the cold; so it wasn't an improvement on the vanilla extract of the previous Vanilla Milk Ice experiment.

I had fallen for the idea that vanilla bean powder is superior to vanilla extract, because I had in the past bought (what appears in retrospect to be Grade A) Vanilla Bean powder and the smell of it is glorious. But yesterday I saw Is Real Vanilla actually worth it? and I was enlightened. The answer is, interestingly enough, "it depends". For baked goods, imitation vanilla essence can be better, because the heat causes the vanilla flavours/aromas to break down or evaporate, and since imitation vanilla essence just concentrated Vanillin, then there's more of it left after cooking. Otherwise imitation vanilla essence is only slightly better than nothing. As for which of Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Bean Paste, Vanilla Bean Powder or Vanilla Extract Powder are superior... for the most part, they are pretty similar, though for some purposes, single-source vanilla extract can give a richer, more nuanced flavour... but may not be worth the extra $$ you pay.

Just before making this batch up, I had bought sample packs of four different types of vanilla bean powder from www.naturalvanilla.com.au: Grade A ground vanilla beans, Grade B (ground beans without the seeds), Grade A Blend (mix of Grade A powder, brown sugar powder & brown rice powder), and Vanilla Caviar (dried vanilla bean seeds). I'm glad I got them, because it gives me a better idea of what the options are. Of the four, the best for my purposes is the Grade A Vanilla Bean powder. It is the most aromatic; even though the Vanilla Caviar is the most concentrated, it doesn't have the same smell, and as the video above pointed out, the tricky thing is getting the vanilla flavour out of the seeds.

Therefore, the next time I try making Vanilla Milk Ice, it will be vanilla extract which I'll be using. I'll just have to try using more of it. That doesn't mean that my Grade A Vanilla Bean Powder is a waste; it will be good for things which are thick already (e.g. yoghurt, cream, coconut cream) or things which are going to be eaten/drunk straight away, such as milkshakes.