Powdered Vanilla

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Raychel55

Assistant Cook
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
2
I was in Tennessee last week and had a delicious sweet potatoe dish that used powdered vanilla. I purchased some at the store next door. When I came home I tried to recreate the dish for my husband. The powdered vanilla had no instructions, so I used the same ratio as vanilla extract. The dish was so bitter, and had such a bad after taste that it was virtually inedible. What did I do wrong? Was I suppose to mix the powder with a liquid first?
 
Last edited:
Have you tried calling the store and see if they can give you help with the instructions? Maybe that would help, or call (if you can remember where you had the dish) the restaurant and enquire what went wrong with the dish; see if they can give you some pointers. Other than that, I know we've go some foodies here who could more than likely be of better assistance than I.;)
 
The 1:1 ration is about right. With maybe a little edge to the powder! As to why your dish was bitter I don't have a clue. What were the other ingredients??
 
For most powders (depending on the composition/ingredients) you use it in the same ratio as the liquid extract. Basically one rounded teaspoon of powder = 1 teaspoon of liquid extract.

Who makes the powder and what are the ingredients? Three are many types of vanilla powder, and most are synthetic. Some are a sugar base sprayed with vanilla extract, some are ground vanilla beans mixed with sugar, some are pure ground vanilla beans. What color is it? If it is black, then it is ground vanilla beans and very potent. You should only use half of what you would use with an extract. If it is white, then it could be sucrose and vanilla extract, or it could be artificial vanillin (synthetic), and is probably Crystalline Phenolic Aldehyde. If it is brownish, then it is probably dextrose with vanilla extract.

So, can you check the ingredients and list them along with the vendor name? Also, remember that vanilla is strong! More than a teaspoon can be overpowering and bitter.
 
I use vanilla powder here in Kazahstan because I can't get the liquid----I posted this question about 2 years ago on DC and wanted to know what the correct conversions were and was told that it was the same----if a recipe called for 1tsp. of liquid vanilla then you used 1tsp. of the powdered. I've only used the powdered v. in cakes and cookies and have never had a problem with taste variations. Still delicous. Maybe potatoes are a different ballgame, though I don't know why that would be. Hope that you get some satisfactory answers soon.
 
Back
Top Bottom