Vanilla beans

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cole

Assistant Cook
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Messages
1
Hi, Im new at this so hope I dont come across as a complete cluck. I have been making chocolate truffles using the plain ganache method. I have got some vanilla beans (pods) and wonder how I can use them to get a vanilla taste in the truffle. Hope someone can help me with this. Thanks:)
 
Welcome to the forum, Cole!! I love the wonderful flavour of real vanilla beans and use them for making ice cream, pudding etc., when I do it I slit the bean and cook in the milk for a while, but I never tried anything like Truffles with them.
Try this site, it has all sorts of useful info for utilizing vanilla beans.
 
So far I have only used the seeds. According to the site I provided above, the pod can also be utilized, after extracting the seeds. Which is I am yet to try but would like to on the next occasion. It would be great if I don't have to waste anything of what is so good and costs quite dearly!!
 
They cost somewhere between 2€ to 3€ per pod here in Rome, which is about 2,8 - 4,2 CAD. I am not sure if you can find it any cheaper or cost more where you are... It is certainly not a regular everyday item, and they are not always found in regular supermarkets, though some of the bigger, well equipped ones may carry them. We usually go to a vendor who specializes in spices from the world in a market, or a gourmet/imported food specialty shop to find them. I know the bottled extracts and vanilla sugars and such are much more spread and easier to use, but the flavour from real vanilla beans are really special, you just have to try it to believe it. It is anything but a "plain old vanilla".
 
goboenomo said:
So... you use the seeds for the vanilla flavour? or the pod?

Once you've scraped the vanilla pod, place it in a canister with some granulated sugar. Make sure the canister has a tight-fitting lid. The vanilla pod will, in time, impart a wonderful vanilla flavor to the sugar. Then, you can use the sugar to flavor your coffee or even add more vanilla flavor when baking. It's also delicious on hot oatmeal. Yum!
 
urmaniac13 said:
They cost somewhere between 2€ to 3€ per pod here in Rome, which is about 2,8 - 4,2 CAD. I am not sure if you can find it any cheaper or cost more where you are... It is certainly not a regular everyday item, and they are not always found in regular supermarkets, though some of the bigger, well equipped ones may carry them. We usually go to a vendor who specializes in spices from the world in a market, or a gourmet/imported food specialty shop to find them. I know the bottled extracts and vanilla sugars and such are much more spread and easier to use, but the flavour from real vanilla beans are really special, you just have to try it to believe it. It is anything but a "plain old vanilla".

I've seen them here at the Real Canadian Superstore in little plastic containers. They didnt look very big, and I didnt see a price.


Katie E
OH MAN!
That sounds like such a good idea.
I'd love to do that with like 2/3 cups of sugar and make cookies with it.
 
The used pods from the sugar jur in our house get one more outing before the bin, in milk for hot chocolate or warm milk and honey after a hard day, when you want something special. When you are paying a big price for vanilla beans I want to make thwm work hard before we bish them, lol.
 
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