What is a vanilla bean? Vanilla beans start off as green, 6 to 10-inch cigar-shaped seedpods of the vanilla plant. Freshly harvested pods have no aroma or flavor so to develop their distinctive flavor, pods are cured by sun-drying during the day and sweating under blankets at night for 3- to 4 months. During this process they ferment, shrink and turn dark brown. Next, they're graded and shipped to the U.S. They're either packaged as whole vanilla beans or made into pure extract by a process similar to making coffee. Once aged, the pure extract is sent to grocers.

Using Vanilla Beans
Inside of the dark brown bean is the prized mass of moist, very small brownish-black seeds. The seeds contain most of the flavor, but the skin has some as well. To store the beans, tightly wrap in plastic wrap and put in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months. The beans can be used in several ways:

• For liquid-based desserts like sauces, ice cream and custard, the bean can be slit open lengthwise, or left intact and allowed to steep in the liquid in addition to scraping the seeds into the mixture.



• For firm or solid-type mixtures like cheesecake and baked goods batter, steeping won't work so the seeds must be scraped directly into the batter.

Making Homemade Vanilla Sugar -- Place 2 cups of granulated sugar into an airtight container. Scrape the seeds from 1 whole vanilla bean over the sugar; stir to distribute the seeds throughout the sugar. Push the remaining bean skin down into the sugar and seal tightly. Let stand in a dark cabinet for 1 to 2 weeks to fully flavor the sugar. Remove the bean after 2 weeks. As you use the vanilla sugar, add granulated sugar to replace what is used, shaking the container occasionally. The vanilla flavor should last up to 12 months. Use the sugar in cooking, baking and to sweeten beverages.

About Vanilla Extract

There are two main types of vanilla extract: pure vanilla extract and imitation vanilla extract. Pure vanilla extract extract gets its rich, subtle flavor from vanilla beans and contains 35% alcohol and corn syrup.

Imitation vanilla extract is artificially flavored. It contains about 30% alcohol along with flavorings, corn syrup and coloring. Imitation vanilla flavor, similar to imitation vanilla extract, is yet another product and is the least expensive.

Some mail-order sources carry double and triple-strength vanilla. Double and triple strength vanilla use two to three times as many beans to flavor the same amount of alcohol, so you only need to use one-half or one-third as much respectively, of the amount specified in a recipe.