By Lisa Sheffer
What are the benefits of Vanilla Extract versus Vanilla Paste, powder, sugar, vanilla caviar, etc? Do I need all of them? When should I use one or the other?
Great questions! Here's a chart with our recommendations, and some of the pros/cons of each vanilla application. We firmly believe that there is no such thing as too much vanilla, but there is such thing as too much alcohol or sugar. By having a wide array of vanilla options, you can add lots of vanilla flavor without affecting the texture, flavor, or liquid/dry balance of your recipe.
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| Pros: most recipes are formulated for extract. Plentiful. Great vanilla flavor with very little effect on color, texture, or overall look. Homemade extract is especially versatile with vanilla bean/alcohol combinations. Can be comparatively cheap as well, considering how much extract you can get out of the vanilla beans. | Cons: Adds liquid, the flavor reduces a bit as alcohol evaporates, or in unheated applications, the alcohol flavor can persist. Homemade can take several months to a year or more to develop. | Indri’s favorite uses: Wherever it says to use extract, but I usually double it/measure with my heart. If it's a hot, stovetop cooked application (like a sugar syrup), I try to add it at the end so the alcohol can burn off as much as possible without losing all the flavor. |
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| Pros: Faster to make and develop into a good flavor, long shelf life, adds caviar/black speckles. Concentrated flavor. Versatile with different types of vanilla beans. | Cons: Adds sugar and other stabilizers. May require special equipment (good blender, for example) and ingredients to produce. Often uses up the whole bean (maybe that's a pro?). | Indri’s favorite uses: Marshmallows, whipped cream, fondants, caramels, something soft and chewy where the caviar can be seen. Also, on fruit salads or almost as a condiment. |
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| Pros: Can be made with once extracted beans for a zero-waste option. Super concentrated flavor. Doesn't add any other ingredients--just vanilla bean. | Cons: Can be gritty/texturally off-putting, as the powder doesn't dissolve. Can be visually off-putting for the same reason. Hard to get a fine powder with home equipment. | Indri’s favorite uses: In baked goods like breads, cookies, cakes, brownies, because the texture isn't noticeable. Also, to balance flavors and round out of spice rubs, tomato-based stews or sauces, or other savory applications. |
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| Pros: No alcohol flavor added, easy to make, quick to develop | Cons: It's sugar. You can replace most recipes' sugar with vanilla sugar, but you're still locked in to all the effects of sugar. | Indri’s favorite uses: Sprinkled on things like toast, the outside of cookies, fruit, basically used as a topping. |
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| Pros: Similar to vanilla paste, but faster. Finer and prettier than vanilla powder, and more recognizable as "vanilla bean." Can be added at the beginning of a sugar syrup or simmering process and the vanilla flavor won't break down, especially if the pod is added to the simmering mixture. | Cons: Still a little gritty, flavor is very subtle. Can be hard to remove, especially if the vanilla bean is dry. | Indri’s favorite uses: I use in conjunction with extract most of the time. Crème brûlée, whipped cream, vanilla pudding, pastry creme, mousse, caramel, Crème anglaise, all those times where you want some visual vanilla bean goodness. |
Other--Vanilla Salt, Vanilla Honey, Vanilla Simple Syrup, Vanilla maple syrup, Vanilla infused oils, etc. |
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| Pros: I've tried most of these, and they're wonderful. I use whenever it seems appropriate, like vanilla salt sprinkled on salted caramels. It's fun to have diverse applications for vanilla beans. | Cons: Oils can go rancid. Syrups can crystalize. Not all combinations have been tested for shelf stability and food safety. While most things are probably great, the further you venture into experimentation land, the more risk you take on and the less experience will be available to help. | Indri’s favorite uses: adventure day! |
