Kitchen Project #109: All about Vanilla
By Cissy Difford. Everything you ever wanted to know about beans, paste & extract!
Hello,
Welcome to today’s edition of Kitchen Projects, my recipe development journal. Thank you so much for being here!
For today’s edition, we’re joined by Cissy Difford, the superstar Dublin based pastry chef and consultant. Formerly the head baker at Scéal Bakery and has joined us on the newsletter several times this year with her divine hazelnut chocolate spread and guide to baked custards.
Today, Cissy tells the story of a very special ingredient: Vanilla. Strap yourselves in because it’s a wonderful ride. From pods to extracts, she’s got you covered. Over on KP+, Cissy is sharing her recipe for her Ultimate Vanilla Tart with stunning vanilla milk jam, spelt pastry, rich vanilla mazarin and whipped vanilla mascarpone. Click here for the recipe, plus special 10% discount for my fave Vanilla dealer Zazou Emporium.
What’s KP+? Well, it’s the level up version of this newsletter. By joining KP+, you will support the writing and research that goes into the newsletter (including the commissioning - and fair payment - of all the writers) and join a growing community, access extra content (inc. the full archive) and more. Subscribing is easy and only costs £5 per month. Why not give it a go? Come n join the gang!
Love,
Nicola
All about Vanilla
We ALL know vanilla. It shows up in cake batters, ice creams and even in our soaps and scents. As one of the most common flavours used across the world and the second most expensive spice after saffron, you’d think we’d know everything there is to know about it. Well, I certainly didn’t before I started writing this. Big thanks to Nicola who asked me to deep dive into this ingredient because, boy, have I got a whole new fascination and appreciation for it. You want in too, right?!
So, when we say something or someone is ‘vanilla’ we use the ingredient to suggest that that thing or person is boring, ordinary or plain but WHY?! This ingredient (not to be used as an adjective) is so rich, floral and complex, anything BUT ordinary! The overuse of synthetic vanillin (more on this later) has meant we think of vanilla as a jelly-like paste or liquid with a sickly sweet smell. But did you know that vanilla actually comes from the pod fruit of a tropical orchid plant native to the West Indies, Mexico, Central and South America and Tahiti? Across the globe there are over 20,000 types of fruit-bearing orchids but it's only the vanilla variety which is edible.
The plant is an evergreen vine which can reach up to 15m in length, it has thick stems, green/yellowish flowers and produces fruit pods filled with thousands of tiny black seeds.
This type of orchid has a natural pollinator, the mighty vanilla bee (although sadly going extinct), but since humans discovered how to hand-pollinate plants in the 1800s, vanilla is now produced on a huge commercial scale. It is this hand pollinating which makes vanilla so costly as it is both extremely labour-intensive and time-consuming.
Once the fruit on the vine starts to turn yellow, the pods are harvested, blanched, sweated, dried, graded and then transported. The whole process can take up to 6 years, from cultivation to hitting our shelves!
If you have time, you should watch this video, which walks you through the history of vanilla, its industry and the harvesting process.
Amie Costello and Conor Higgins are the owners of Elliot’s Bakery, a micro bakery in Dublin specialising in sourdough bread and delicious pastries (particularly infamous for their Maritozzi bun). Before opening Elliot’s and their other ventures Oxmantown and Pete’s Wine, they imported and sold vanilla from Uganda to Dublin. Even though I’ve worked alongside them both I never learnt the full story as to how this came about, so I sat down with Amie to find out.
How did you come across vanilla on your travels in Africa?
Myself and Conor went backpacking with no plan or money around East Africa for 3 months in 2010. We landed in Nairobi, Kenya and met up with the one person we knew there, Florian, a friend of Conor's and pastry chef. He was visiting from an island off the coast of Kenya called Lamu and brought us to eat at his friend's restaurant/guesthouse. While we were there a delivery of Ugandan vanilla arrived in the kitchen. We got talking and it planted the seed for us to visit a vanilla farm on our travels.
After a month or so spent in Kenya, we ended up on the back of two boda bodas (motorbikes) travelling through the lush green hills of Uganda. We visited a number of farms, many of which were growing complementary crops such as coffee, cocoa and vanilla, alongside smaller crops such as cardamom and black pepper.
Did you get to see the harvesting process?
Yes, we learnt all about the complicated and extremely labour intensive growing, harvesting, drying and fermenting techniques. Each vanilla orchid is hand pollinated and each pod is hand picked. They are then blanched in large vats of hot water, wrapped in blankets and then stored in wooden boxes to ferment for a period of time. Over the course of months, they are taken out every day and spread on drying racks to dry in the sun. The pods are continuously graded according to length and overall quality. Grade A being the highest grade aka the longest (17cm and up) and finest pods (no blemishes or imperfections) and with the highest moisture content (27-35%) and vanillin content (approx 2%), Gourmet B and C, TK (shorter length with some imperfections) and splits. The variety grown is Vanilla Planifolia.
Uganda has an advantage in terms of climate compared to other Vanilla growing countries globally as it has 2 dry seasons per year allowing for two potential harvests. However, as we experienced during the importing process these 2 dry seasons have become less predictable due to the climate crisis having a severe knock on effect for farmers and customers alike with the price per kg skyrocketing in wetter years.
Do you have any stand out memories from your trip?
For me, a standout memory from the farm visits (apart from the white knuckle ride over potholes, dirt tracks and one motorbike accident to get there!) was definitely the smell. That heady, leathery, almost tobacco like aroma that was heightened in the intense heat was heavenly!
How did you end up with vanilla pods when you returned to Ireland?
We visited a number of farms and met the exporters/distributors that the farmers worked with and ended up buying 40kg of vanilla because we were both blown away by the vanilla and how incredibly labour intensive the whole process was. It was a massive eye opener for us both!
Before we bought anything, we made sure to research a fair price p/kg that would reflect the hard work carried out by the farmers and workers.
Once all the paperwork was in order and it was packed up and sent on a bus from Kampla to Nairobi where we managed to stuff it into our backpacks and (legally) brought it home on the plane with us!
How receptive were Irish restaurants to buying the vanilla pods?
When we got back to Ireland, Conor (being a chef in the city) started to reach out to contacts in the restaurant industry and the product pretty much sold itself. The demand grew and we began to import on a relatively small scale to some of the best restaurants in Dublin. We also made a flying visit to London with a list of our favourite restaurants in our pocket and began cold calling into some pretty intimidating kitchens trying to flog our wares! We were definitely met with a more sceptical response to our sales tactic…
Do you have any tips on how to store vanilla pods?
The best thing to do is to store vanilla pods in an airtight container or better yet in a vac pack pouch if you have access to one! And keep them in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. The aim is to retain the moisture and pliability of the pods for as long as possible.
Do you have any tips on how to get the most out of vanilla?
Get the most from your vanilla by reusing the pods after scraping out the seeds. You can store the spent but still incredibly flavorful pods in sugar to make a vanilla sugar for unlimited uses.
I MEAN, if this didn’t want to make you go travelling/visit a vanilla farm, I dunno what will! If you don’t happen to make it that far, you could always hop over to Dublin and visit Elliot's Bakery and ask Amie some more questions IRL. As well as eat some of the delicious treats they have on offer there.
Thank you Amie. Follow Elliot’s bakery on Instagram, here.
The Vanilla Line-up
So now we know a bit more about how vanilla is grown and harvested, let’s chat about what types there are.
Like coffee cherries and grapes for wine, the flavour profile of vanilla beans is characteristic of their terroir (the soil and climate), its particular species and when and how it was cured. The most common types of vanilla are:
Bourbon Madagascar - this is probably the most common and classic type of vanilla. It is characteristically thin, creamy and mellow in flavour and often termed ‘bourbon’ due to its location on the Bourbon islands off of the east coast of Africa. Madagascar produces a whopping 80% of the world’s vanilla.
Tahitian - these are normally very thick and dark pods full of juicy seeds with a floral and fruity aroma. They come from the species of orchid vanilla tahitensis, which has a lower vanillin content. They are also the most expensive!
Mexican - this is often described as spicy, clove and warm.
Indonesian - often described as smoky, woody and full bodied in flavour.
Ugandan - has a similar profile to Madagascan vanilla but is slightly more creamy and sweet.
These pods are sold by Zazou Emporium, a vanilla supplier based in the UK:
Firstly, look how beautiful they are! Ok, this photo doesn’t do them justice, so you’ll have to imagine but look how CHONK the Costa Rican pod is! I’ve never seen a pod that juicy before - have you?
The tests
To test each of these, I split ¼ of the pod and scraped out the seeds and infused them separately in warm milk. To make sure my testing wasn’t biased, I purposefully didn’t read up on the suggested flavour profiles given by the supplier. To compare the pods, I also infused a selection of vanilla pastes and extracts that are commonly sold in supermarkets and even torched a pod. Torching vanilla pods is something I learned from Anna Higham who in turn learnt it from Daniela Soto-Innes. This really is what it says on the tin! When you toast the pod, the heat causes it to expand making it especially easy to scrape out all the seeds. The charring also adds a subtle smokiness and intensity to the flavour as well as an amazing aroma in your kitchen.
After 24hrs I tasted each of the milks and filled out my table below:
In my opinion the most complex and interesting vanilla pod infusions were from the Costa Rican, Papua New Guinea (Tahiti) and the torched Madagascan bean. These didn’t taste like any other vanilla I had tasted before and was a huge contrast to the vanilla pastes tested which were very nondescript and plain in flavour. As you can see, the Costa Rican vanilla pod is the most expensive p/kg (what can I say, gal has expensive taste), which makes sense since it is so plump and full of flavourful seeds.
As a side note, I would assume that the vanilla paste infusions split (or curdled) the milk overnight due to the % of alcohol in them.
To be honest, after every sip of the vanilla pod infused milks, I went WOW! I am very appreciative to have the opportunity to taste test vanilla in this way and wish I could share the flavours with you (can someone invent a flavour telephone please!) It has given me a newfound respect for the plant, and the people who grow, harvest and sell it. The flavours are so complex and honestly do not compare with the pastes or extracts. Even though it is, of course, much more expensive to buy pods, it is 100% worth it! Let’s make vanilla the star of the show people, not just the backing dancer.
The deal with vanilla pastes
What is vanilla paste?
Vanilla paste is a blend of ground vanilla pods, vanilla extract, sweeteners and thickeners. In most cases, you can see flecks of vanilla suspended in a thick syrup. Pastes are often an intense flavour, which allows you to stretch it further.
What is vanilla extract?
Vanilla extract is a liquid made by steeping vanilla pods in an alcohol and water solution. The pods are typically aged for 4 months to increase their vanillin. They are then macerated in the solution for around 12 months before the vanilla beans are removed and the extract is ready to use. It’s basically just a very long infusion. The alcohol is used to draw out all of the vanilla flavour into the liquid.
What is vanillin?
Vanillin is the main chemical compound extracted from the vanilla bean. It is what gives it its distinct taste and smell.
What is vanilla essence?
This is made by combining water, alcohol, emulsifiers and synthetic vanillin. This imitation vanilla is lab produced to mimic the taste and smell of vanilla pods. It is a much cheaper way of getting that vanilla flavour to consumers. However, it’s often sickly sweet and smells fake. Some essence made today is said to be made from wood pulp or coal tar - ick!
Conversion rates
This depends on the strength and brand of vanilla paste or extract you are using. These are the vanilla extracts and pastes I used in my tests.
A huge German food processing company that is on most shelves in the UK and Ireland.
Vanilla extract Ingredients: invert sugar syrup, glucose syrup, water, vanilla extract.
Approximate Conversion: The suggested conversion rate for this is to taste or as directed in the recipe. Personally, I think you would have to use the whole bottle to impart any sort of vanilla flavour but then it would make your recipe very sweet.
Founded in 2010, the company aims to campaign for real vanilla, as it noted that around 97% of vanillin used in the west is artificial, which means there is a potential for the growing and harvesting of vanilla to go out of trade.
Ingredients: bourbon vanilla extractives inc. vanilla seeds, alcohol (17%), sugar, xanthan gum
Approximate Conversion: 5g equivalent to 1 vanilla pod
An Australian brand that has been going for over 120 years. Claiming that it’s vanilla is ‘sustainably and responsibly sourced’.
Ingredients: sugar, water, vanilla pods, tragacanth gum
Approximate Conversion: 5g equivalent to 1 vanilla pod
An American company that has been selling vanilla extracts and pastes for over 100 years.
Ingredients: Water, ethanol, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, sugar, inulin, tapioca starch, xanthan gum
Approximate Conversion. 15g equivalent to 1 vanilla pod
Notes on these scary sounding ingredients…
Xanthan gum is a thickening agent.
Inulin is a carbohydrate found in plants. It’s used as a sweetener and to give a more smooth mouthfeel.
Tapioca starch is used as a thickening agent.
Tragacanth gum is a natural product that gives sugary products more strength and elasticity.
Invert sugar syrup is a liquid sweetener.
Glucose syrup helps control the formation of sugar crystals.
Vanilla FAQs
How to scrape a vanilla bean?
Split the vanilla bean down the middle with a sharp knife or with scissors. Using the dull side of a knife, scrape the vanilla beans from the pod by moving from the tip (where you hold it down) along the whole length of the pod.
How many times can you use a vanilla bean before it has no flavour?
To test this, I again infused a split vanilla bean in milk for 24hrs. After each taste test, I refreshed the milk.
After 1 infusion: very strong vanilla flavour, with lots of seeds visible in the milk.
After 2 infusions: still a vanilla flavour but slightly less intense. Fewer seeds visible in the milk.
After 3 infusions: no real vanilla flavour in the milk infusion
What is the minimum infusion time to make it worthwhile, and how much vanilla do I need?
Recommended ratio is 1 pod per 500ml for at least 24hrs, but you could get an intense flavour in less time by adding double the amount of vanilla.
What can I do with spent vanilla pods?
Vanilla Extract
After infusing your milk (or other liquid) with your vanilla pod, squeeze out any hidden seeds. Then gently wash the pods to remove any excess dairy. Leave these to dry on a paper towel for 24hrs. Once dried, fill a sterilised jar with a neutral, high proof alcohol such as rum, vodka or brandy. Then add in the dried, spent vanilla husks into the jar. Close the lid and keep it somewhere dark. Keep adding any spent pods using the same method until the jar is bursting! After 6 months, blitz the whole jar (liquid and pods) in a food processor until smooth. Now you have a beautiful jar of vanilla extract to use in your bakes.
Vanilla Oil
To make vanilla oil, wash and dry the used vanilla pods. Once dry, chop and add to warm neutral oil. You don’t want the oil to be boiling as the vanilla pod will fry! Again, this isn’t very precise but I’d say around 1 vanilla pod to 150g neutral oil. Once cool, blitz in a high powered blender. Pass through a sieve. Store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks or freeze.
Vanilla Powder
Preheat your oven to the lowest setting (around 50c). If the oven is too hot the pods will burn.
Place the used vanilla pods on a baking tray and dehydrate in the oven for 1 - 1.5 hrs, or until crisp.
Allow to cool before blitzing in a high powered blender or spice grinder until fine.
You can use the vanilla powder for dressings, in cakes or to kick start infusions. Store in an airtight container.
Want to make Cissy’s ultimate vanilla tart? ft. Vanilla Jam, Whipped Vanilla Mascarpone and Vanilla mazarin? Click here for the recipe.
Don’t forget to follow Cissy on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cissydifford/?hl=en. She also writes her own substack ‘Roll with it’ so check it out here!
 | A guest post by
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I made a vanilla baked custard the other day, intending on using the Taylor & Coleridge paste. I don't think I have had the jar for that long - less than a year - but it had set absolutely rock hard and nothing, not swirling it with hot milk, nothing, would get it out of the jar. So I won't be buying that again.
There's a Raymond Blanc vanilla puree recipe that I have been eyeing up, but I don't think my blender is powerful enough for it.
Well, this was a truly fascinating read! I just got back from Paris having bought a couple of juicy Tahitian vanilla pods so now I know to TORCH them and make vanilla jam I’m even more thrilled. Thanks Cissy and Nicola!