Recipe for homemade vanilla extract
Did you know that you can create a delicious vanilla extract all by yourself? Fill your new or used vanilla beans in a glass jar with a lid, and pour in alcohol. After that, it requires a bit of waiting time – but then you will have the most delightful vanilla extract that you can use in your sweet kitchen.
I have a bottle of rum standing, into which I always put used vanilla beans – and now, after 4 years, where it has been extracting the flavor from the beans, it tastes heavenly.
A homemade vanilla extract is also practical to have in a kitchen where a cake goes through the oven from time to time. Here, you also get a brilliant idea for an original hostess gift.
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Ingredients
- Vanilla Pod
- Alcohol Vodka or rum
Instructions
- It's important that the glass jar used can be sealed tightly. It could be a canning jar, a jam jar, a mustard jar, an alcohol bottle, or something similar.
- Ensure your container (and its lid) is thoroughly washed before use.
- Take a couple of vanilla beans, split them, and cut them into pieces so they fit in your jar. If you have saved any after baking, you can use them as well.
- Put the vanilla beans in the jar and pour alcohol over them until they are completely covered. This ensures they do not start to rot.
- Let the mixture sit for about 14 days before you start using it.
- If you only use the beans (without seeds), it takes 4-6 months before it becomes good.
- You can add more alcohol and vanilla beans at any time.
- I typically scrape the vanilla seeds out of my beans and put the beans in the bottle, so it's an ongoing process to get the most out of my ingredients.
- Therefore, I also use leftover bits of rum that I top it up with.