Homemade Vanilla Extract - A How To!
Friday Food Chat with Kath
Whenever I share photos of my homemade vanilla extract, I get questions about how I make it.
There isn’t big secret to making vanilla extract at home, it’s almost ridiculously simple.
All you need is:
A bottle with an airtight top (up to 500ml works well, anything bigger than that you will need a lot of vanilla pods!). I use these ones.
Some white rum or plain vodka. I am no alcohol connoisseur, the only reason I buy alcohol is to make vanilla extract! So I just buy whatever is the least expensive.
Vanilla pods - you don’t need lots to start with. Ideally you will be adding them to your extract over time as you use the pods for their seeds so nothing is wasted. Vanilla pods still have lots of flavour to give after the seeds have been scraped so adding them to vanilla extract (or making vanilla sugar) is a great way to use them. Four pods is a great starting point, but the bigger the bottle you are using the more you will need. I add mine after use, and once one bottle has a decent amount I just start another bottle! I now have four on the go!
Put the vanilla pods into your bottle, and pour over the white rum or vodka. Leave in a dark spot for a good couple of months, and you will notice over time how the colour of the alcohol deepens. The deeper the colour the more intense the vanilla flavour.
The more vanilla pods you have in there (within in reason of course, it will depend on the size of your bottle - you can see in my photos how many I’ve put in each of my jars and those jars are at capacity for vanilla now), the more quickly the vanilla extract will develop. This is why each time you use another vanilla bean pod for something else, you should add it to your jar (or jars depending on how you go with it!). If you only have a small bottle or jar (say 200ml or less), you can definitely start with 1 or 2 pods and you will have a nice extract in 2-3 months.
Once you have used most of your extract, you can top the bottle up with more white rum or vodka and start again. This is why I like to have more than one bottle on the go, as one can be in use while the other is developing.
I have been making my own vanilla extract since 2017, and I have just been topping up the vanilla beans and alcohol since then (I’ve never removed any beans just added one or two more now and then). Plus I’ve created new bottles since then too!
Once you start making your own vanilla extract you will almost never have to buy any again, and no vanilla pods will ever go in the bin! If you are able to infuse a larger quantity, you can also divide some up into smaller bottles and give as gifts to fellow bakers.
Homemade vanilla extract can be used the same as bought in baking, just keep in mind that it is pure alcohol so if it isn’t being cooked it will keep its high alcohol content (in icings for example). If catering to kids (when the extract won’t be cooked) or anyone keeping a Halal diet, I would use an alcohol free vanilla extract (like this one) or just use the seeds of a vanilla pod and add the pod into my extract after.
Do you make your own vanilla extract? Do you think you would give it a go now? Let me know in the comments below.
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Raspberry and Vanilla Cake
Now you’ve made some of your own vanilla extract, you can use it in cakes like this! Raspberries are also in season now so it’s a great opportunity to use them in cakes. Frozen raspberries will also work well too.
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