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About vanilla
I have been using imitation vanilla in all my baking. I was pricing the "real" vanilla extract and there is such a big price difference. Do you use the same amount of vanilla extract in a recipe as the imitation, or do you use less? If it is more concentrated maybe you don't use as much?
Comments
About vanilla
No, no, no! Never use imitation vanilla!
Really. Even if you can't taste the difference, people with normal amounts of taste buds and supertasters will.
Seriously, real vanilla extract may seem expensive, but you use very little at a time and a bottle will last you a long time. It's a seasoning, and like all your spices and herbs should be the best quality you can find.
Don't get me started on pre-ground nutmeg...
same amount
You use the same amount of real vanilla extract as you do the immitation stuff. Once I switched to the real stuff, I found that I liked it better, but it is pretty pricey. There are recipes on the internet for making your own with cheap vodka and vanilla beans that work out to just a few cents per use, but I've never done it myself.
But don't get me started on people who hate preground nutmeg
Real vanilla
I think real vanilla is totally worth it. *Maybe* if I were cooking enough cupcakes for 2 armies I might consider going cheaper with imitation, but otherwise I always choose real.
I've never done whole nutmeg, though I am tempted once I use up the current store of preground, because it would look so cool in my Soho Spice rack.
Shaun
www.homeschoolblogger.com/shaunms
Vanilla
try to buy bigger bottles - I've found there's a huge difference in price between the tiny bottles of the real stuff in supermarkets and other places that sell it in larger sizes. I'd give you specifics, but unless you're in the UK it wouldn't help much! Try cookware or baking shops though, or online.
Kerri.
cans her own tuna?
Wow. Does she catch it herself?
I've heard that the homemade vodka vanilla is cheaper than the other kinds. Also there are big bottles of it at places like Costco and Sam's, for a better unit price.
But if you are using it for chocolate chip cookies, you'll actually get better cookies if you use Kahlua instead of vanilla.
Bought some
I bought some real vanilla and everyone was right. Thanks for all the input. It really does have a different flavor. My next step will be to buy fresh nutmeg at the bulk food store:)
I bought real nutmegs
just the other day for a fancy baked rice pudding I planned to make. Not sure how the nutmeg compared with ground stuff but I need a new recipe for rice pudding - the top burnt and the underneath was just NOT right at all. My mother's comment was something like "I told you you shoulda stuck with the canned kind". So much for real food!
the nutmegs weren't expensive and they came with a mini grater which saved me buying one (though it's only as thick as aluminium foil!).
glad you enjoyed the vanilla though. It's also nice to turn people on to 'proper' foods instead of the junk we often make do with.
Kerri.
Didn't know rice pudding came in cans
I can't recall ever seeing that on the USA store shelves. I've only ever had home baked, though mom didn't make it very often.
Good luck with Zilla's recipe!
Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally
oh angel
If you've never grated a nutmeg yourself...I'd say I'm sorry for you but I'm not! You still get to experience that amazing first time tasting and smelling fresh nutmeg!
I buy nutmegs whole and use a little microplane grater that I also use for zesting citrus. The whole nutmegs stay fresh forever while the pre-ground is stale (and adulterated) on the grocery shelf. It takes as much time to grate a little nutmeg into whatever it is you're cooking as it does to measure some out from a tin (maybe less). And the difference in fragrance and taste is extreme. I mean, really different, and well worth the non-bother. With my whole heart I encourage you to try it!
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
Restaurant supply
We get ours in big bottles from the restaurant supply. Pretty inexpensive. Of course, Hata's and my friend skelling, who does everything by hand herself (angel she'd drive you bananas with the perfectionism in food except she's so dang nice), buys beans in bulk on ebay and makes her own. I can't remember if she uses brandy or vodka or both or neither. Probably a bottle with vodka and a bottle with brandy. This is a woman who makes her own marshmallows and cans her own tuna. If I didn't love her so much...
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
no
She buys it at the dock. Whenever the rest of us groan as she tells us this stuff, she goes "What?! it's so easy and tastes so much better!" We all go, "Whatever, dear."
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
Lummy!
I told DH (makes all our bread, cures hams etc. etc.) about this. His first response was unprintable on a family website, his second was 'That's fighting talk, that is'! However, I can't believe it can be economical to can one's own tuna in the middle of the UK, so we may be saved this one
Zillah
yay!
Another convert to real food!
No offense intended to anyone, okay?
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
Rice Pudding
Kerri, I'm putting a rice pudding recipe in the box right now. You'll never want tinned again!
Zillah
not canned but fresh in the deli case
Kozy Shack makes pretty good rice pudding, and tapioca pudding. Actually pretty yummy. In fact I'll see if I can add some to my New Seasons order. Yes! New Seasons is delivering! squeal!
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
fresh nutmeg
I do grate my own nutmeg and I agree that it has a much better taste than the jarred stuff. I guess my lame attempt at humor flopped.
That said, I remember when I first started cooking after I left home I cooked with margarine, fake vanilla, and had no idea what a nutmeg looked like. It made me CRAZY when my food snob friends would freak out and tell me what an awful cook I was for using these ingredients. Mind you, they still ate their weight in the cookies that I made with those ingredients.
she uses vodka
she buys a big a$$ bottle of vodka. She said the clerk at the liquor store gave her the fish eye once when she told him it was for vanilla...
Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally
I might get some today!
We're going out for brunch at a deli which I think has good rice pudding. If they don't have it today, I'll have noodle kugel.
ah, my apologies
No one's a "bad cook" for using those ingredients--heaven knows I've tasted some pretty horrid cooking made with the best ingredients money can buy. But good cooking is so much better with good ingredients. That's all.
Lynn Siprelle, Editor
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