Vanilla

If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you know we sometimes wax poetic about flavorings.  In our humble opinion, many a good baked good can be ruined if the flavoring of something is off.  Too strong a taste, it cancels everything out, too little a taste it leaves you feeling underwhelmed.  It's what can make or break a baked good.

Vanilla, then, is the master flavor to us.  Even if you've only ever baked chocolate chip cookies using the directions on the back of the package, you've used vanilla.  Our sister (who claims her kitchen is her 'walk-in closet') even owns vanilla.  That she purchased on her own, at the grocery store.

The problems casual bakers have, though, is there are too many vanilla options anymore.  Which one do you use?  The paste, the extract, the imitation, the seeds??  What started as a quest to just make some chocolate chip cookies to go along with the chick flick you're about to dive into has turned into a colossal headache in front of the spice rack.

We feel your pain. And we're here to help.

We own just about everything in the world vanilla-wise.  No, seriously.  We're going to break it down for you in an easy-to-understand guide right now.  So that next time, you won't have to stress about which vanilla to use.  You will look like a vanilla guru because you'll already know.

1. Imitation Vanilla

Imitation Vanilla is what you owned in college when you had to bake something for that bake sale your favorite club was holding but still had to make rent that month.  It's cheap, especially when you see the list price as $2.99 and the pure vanilla extract at $5.59.  Heck yes, imitation vanilla all the way!

When to Use It:  We use imitation vanilla sometimes, and don't want you to think it's a cop out.  In certain situations, it's not.  Here's our rule of thumb for vanilla: if it's not one of the main flavors you should be tasting, then use the imitation.  Vanilla enhances the flavors in products, makes them pack a punch in your mouth.  If your chocolate cake recipe calls for some vanilla to be added to the mixture, the writers of your recipe didn't lose their minds -- the vanilla is there to make the chocolate taste punch.  But, since you want to taste the chocolate in the cake, use the imitation vanilla in this situation.  Half the cost, same effect.

2. Pure Vanilla Extract

All of your grandmothers had this stuff floating around in their kitchens like it was milk.  You'd ask for vanilla, they'd head to the pantry and return with 12 of these bottles, because they were on sale, and who doesn't want 12 bottles of pure vanilla extract??

Vanilla extract can run from your supermarket off-brands to bottles full of "Tahitian Pure Vanilla".  That's code for liquid gold, pretty much.  Yes there's a taste difference between the Shop-N-Save Pure Vanilla and Tahitian Pure Vanilla, but there's also a price difference.  Generic pure vanilla will run you $7 for 4 oz. on a bad day.  Tahitian Pure Vanilla is $15 for that same 4 oz.

When to Use It: If you don't have vanilla bean paste (see below), use this whenever you're baking something where vanilla is the main flavor you want to come through.  Vanilla cake, blondie brownies, even chocolate chip cookies.  And whenever you're making icing!

3. Vanilla Bean Paste

Ahhh, have we ever told you of our love for vanilla bean paste?  We LOVE vanilla bean paste.  It is the nectar of the gods, we swear.  Vanilla bean paste can be used measurement for measurement the same as vanilla extract.  Vanilla bean paste, though, is thicker, like a syrup, and full of actual vanilla beans.  When you make something with vanilla bean paste, you'll be able to see the beans in whatever you bake.

This stuff is expensive too (the 4oz. bottle above was $13), but my oh my we cannot recommend this stuff enough.  Once you switch over to this, you'll never go back to vanilla extract.

When to Use It: Whenever you want to die and go to vanilla heaven.  Anything where you want the vanilla to shine through, that's when you should be using this stuff.  And it tastes amazing in a vanilla buttercream icing.  Trust us on this.  No, don't trust us, go make some right now!!

4. Real Vanilla Beans

Where it all begins...getting back to the roots of nature with an actual vanilla bean. If you've never worked with an actual vanilla bean before, have some patience, and buy an extra one just in case.  It takes a lot of patience to split it open and scrape out the seeds inside.  The result, though is fantastic -- vanilla in its purest form, the way it was meant for all of us to enjoy.

When to Use It:
You can mix in a real vanilla bean seeds any time a recipe calls for vanilla (along with some vanilla extract, to help it mix throughout).  One of our favorite things to do with a vanilla bean is to make vanilla sugar.  Find an air tight container, fill it with sugar (both white and raw will work), split open a bean and nestle it deep into the sugar.  Let it sit for a long time.  Long time as in you forgot you even put that container up on that high shelf until it's time to make Christmas cookies and you're looking for your gingerbread cookie cutter long time.  The vanilla will seep into the sugar and you'll have some wonderful vanilla sugar for baking with.  Or for coffee.  Yum, vanilla sugar in coffee is amazing!

So there you go.  You feel like such an expert now, right???  You're welcome!!

Baking Pro Tips

A lot of times when people try something we've baked we receive a very similar reaction to the product: "I make this all the time and it doesn't taste anything like what I'm eating now!"  It's not a bad thing...people are just awed that something they may be familiar with can have a different taste than what they're used to.

We usually don't share full recipes with people (it's taken us awhile to develop some of them), but we figured we'd take some time to let you in on a few tricks and tips we use in our kitchen to reach the desired results in our desserts.  Some you might have heard of, others you might be shocked to read, but we hope next time you're baking you remember a tip or two and try it out in your kitchen.

1. We use a lot of salt in our icing.  A lot.  Most recipes you see for call for a "pinch".  Depending on the amount of icing we're making we will use anywhere from a teaspoon to a tablespoon.  We feel like it really helps to balance the sweetness so it's not too overpowering.

2. When you want to make a chocolate icing from scratch, melt down good chocolate in a double boiler.  Yes, you will pay more, but you will definitely notice a difference.  And before you ask, no, Hershey's is not considered a "good" chocolate.

3. We mentioned this before in a past post, but you really need to start using buttermilk in recipes that call for buttermilk.  The taste is just the tiniest bit different, but it's definitely worth the extra effort.  Try it once, and you'll never go back to cheating with regular milk again.  We promise.

4. If you love vanilla cake (and really who doesn't), make yourself a batch of vanilla sugar.  Take a whole vanilla bean, split it open, and put it in a plastic container full of sugar (one that seals tight).  Put it on the shelf and forget about it for awhile.  Next time you go to bake a vanilla cake, use the sugar in the container.  Sugar takes on flavors of objects around it, so your sugar will be infused with vanilla, adding to the ridiculous amounts of vanilla you're about to add to the batter already.  This will send your cake into the vanilla stratosphere.  Trust us.

5. A lot of cheesecake recipes out there tell you not to "over mix" the egg/cream cheese mixture you're creating.  We couldn't disagree more.  We like our cheesecake to be a bit on the airy side, still thick and full of bad-for-you calories, but with just a hint of a whipped surprised.  If your cheesecake weighs the same as a small child, we feel it's a little too dense.  We over mix our cream cheese mixture, and love the results.  Sure, there are probably some cheesecake connoisseurs reading this who are cursing at the very idea of over mixing their batter, but if you're up for a fun challenge, try it next time.

6. If you ever make a Boston Cream Pie (and really, they're so easy, who wouldn't?) there are lots of ways to cheat on the recipe a little.  Use a boxed mix, microwave the chocolate topping, etc.  One are you do not want to cheat, though, is the cream center.  DO NOT use Jell-O mix, guys!  It takes just as long to make the pudding as it does to make some delicious from-scratch cream.  Just google a recipe.  It's worth it.

Hope this helps you guys next time you're in the kitchen!  Share all the yummy things you might cook up, we love fun stories!

Orders, Orders, Orders

Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?  When you're starting your own business does that even exist?

This past week has been INSANE for this small bakery.  We feel like we're just now getting the chance to take a deep breath and clean up our kitchen.  Last week we had 5 (count 'em!) orders, and none of them were small by any means: 3 dozen personalized cookies, a birthday cookie cake, a toffee bacon cheesecake, a red velvet cake for a party, and 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes, including some gluten free ones.  Whew!  By Sunday, this was kind of how we looked:

It was a great week for our business, though, there's no doubt about it.  Not only did we make some nice money baking all this up, but we got to catch up with some old friends on a few of the deliveries and make some new friends on others.  Starting your own business is all about making connections and letting the world know you're there and open for business, and we certainly completed that mission this past week.

One of our favorite treats from this past week has to be our order for vanilla bean and butterscotch cupcakes.  A customer randomly emailed us asking for a last minute order, and it's been awhile since we had anyone asking us for these.  If you've never sampled this before, take a look, it's a beauty...

Sometimes the best treats are the simplest combinations.  We're not breaking any taste barriers here with this combination, but man if it isn't one of the best.  The understated vanilla bean plays off wonderfully with the homemade butterscotch, which, secret, we sometimes eat straight out of the bowl if there's any extra left.  If you've been thinking about ordering some cupcakes for awhile but have been unsure about what to order, might we recommend these?  You really can't go long, and it's a hidden delight on our cupcake menu.

This week we have some more orders coming up, including some more involving bacon.  You people and your pork products!! :-)  Keep looking to our Facebook page for more goodies, and perhaps a small flash sale later this week.  If we can get our act together!

Have a fabulous week, friends!  

Lis