It happens. You buy those fresh, plump, aromatic vanilla bean pods to make your perfect creme brûlée recipe extra special, then you hoard those beans until they’re dry as a crisp and rendered useless. It might not happen a lot, but it happens. Either that or you can’t bear to throw away that bean pod you just fished out of your favorite vanilla bean ice cream. No worries because you can still use that vanilla bean. Just give it a rinse, let it dry, and combine it with sugar to flavor and give the sugar another lovely dimension. This is also a wonderful gift to give friends who love to make sweet treats.
vanilla sugar
2 cups sugar
1 whole vanilla bean
an airtight container to store
Combine ingredients and store in airtight container for at least two weeks before using.
** If you want to make it using a fresh vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds of one vanilla bean and combine with two cups sugar. If you want to use everything, seeds and pod, increase the amount of sugar to 3 to 4 cups.
sprinkle on fruit, cookies, cakes, caramels. Add to teas, coffee, desserts, etc.
Here is a recipe for vanilla powder, like the one I used on these pfeffernüsse cookies.
vanilla powder
1 cup confectioners or powdered sugar
3/4 – 1 teaspoon corn starch
2 dried vanilla beans broken into smaller pieces or the seeds of one vanilla bean and the pod
Combine all ingredients in airtight container, mix well if adding the seeds. Let sit for one to two weeks. Sift out vanilla bean pieces before using.
Use to top anything you would usually use powdered sugar for. Use in icings, glazes, etc.
