Vanilla Success!

Remember my foray into vanilla making? Yeah, me either. Last December I started some vanilla and threw it up in the spice cupboard to do its thing. Then life happened: end of the school year, the summer camp whirlwind, weekends at the shore, and wedding shenanigans. Well after the wedding I went on a complete fall cleaning binge which included emptying, cleaning, and reorganizing all of the kitchen cupboards. Guess what I found when I tackled the spice cupboard? My vanilla! And it looks, smells, and tastes wonderful! I cannot wait to use up my current bottle so I can get cracking with the homemade stuff.

Homemade on the left, store-bought on the right.

It use to look like this:

YAY SUCCESS!!

Creme Brulee Cocktail!

I've been a huge creme brulee kick this school year. Every time we go out and it's on the menu it must be mine. A couple of weeks ago I had a particularly rough day and Mr. Lawyer surprised me with this delicious Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee Ice Cream...a vanilla custard flavored ice cream with burnt sugar swirls? I was in heaven. When I saw this creme brulee inspired cocktail I was excited. I was also super excited to use my new stemless martini/cocktail glasses (Thanks Aunt Sandy!). The glasses did not dissapoint: they have good heft and are going to be super awesome for drinks, desserts, and serving shrimp cocktails. I need a dinner party ASAP so come on over!

The drink fell a little flat. It tasted perfectly fine but it did not taste like a creme brulee. The hazelnut was a tad overpowering. I've seen other versions that used butterscotch which might be a better bet, others had splashes of cream. I will continue to tinker with the idea of a creme brulee cocktail...it just has so much potential! Plus it was fun to finally use my vanilla sugar for something!

Creme Brulee Cocktail

(From the Food Network)

Ingredients:
1 ounce vanilla-flavored vodka
1 ounce Frangelico
1/2 ounce Cointreau or Triple Sec

Vanilla sugar or brown sugar
Directions:
1.Rim glass using Frangelico and vanilla sugar or brown sugar.

2. Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Stir gently and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Homemade Vanilla

I had all these grandiose plans of cooking up a storm and trying new things over vacation but then we were with family eating our faces off and then we came home with a ton of leftovers. I also realized that my paycheck will be pitifully tiny this pay period because of Christmas break so cooking up a storm is not in the cards or in the best interest of our already stuffed fridge. I can't resist the pull of my cute (and newly colorful!) kitchen so when I saw this empty bottle just chilling and then I found some old dried up vanilla beans in the back of my spice cabinet I knew what had to be done! Homemade vanilla extract requires three things: a bottle, vanilla beans, and vodka (one variation is to use bourbon...I'm intrigued). I had the bottle and the beans and we're not big vodka drinkers so I had no problem dipping into our bar to use it for a little project. I'll see how it came out in two months...

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Ingredients:

1 cup vodka

3 vanilla beans, split

1 glass bottle w/stopper or mason jar

Directions:

1. Split the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and put into jar

2. Add vodka and seal the jar

3. Put it in your cupboard and wait at least two excruciatingly long months, shaking periodically. 

Vanilla Bean Heaven!

It was a coworker's birthday today which was the perfect excuse to try a new cupcake recipe! This was also the perfect recipe to use some of my yummy vanilla bean paste in. Oh my goodness, the actual cupcake was divine and unless I have to make a ton of cupcakes I will never make box cupcakes again. It was so soft, light and fluffy. Combined with the buttercream? Vanilla Heaven. I used some store bought chocolate to accommodate the chocolate lovers and while it was good, it overwhelmed the luscious vanilla flavor. If you melt the frosting in the microwave you can dip the cupcakes in and get that smooth glossy finish (I learned this in my Christmas Cupcake Book!).
I gave one to Banks (our doorman). He had it with his coffee and when I came home he said it was the highlight of his day and if I ever started my own bakery he wanted to be number one on my client list. Plus he always asks about how my kids were so he wins in my book.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes 

with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting

Cupcake Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups whole milk, room temperature
4 large egg whites, room temperature
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
seeds scraped from one vanilla bean or 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Buttercream Frosting Ingredients: 
1.5 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1.5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Directions for cupcakes:
1. Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a separate bowl.
3. Cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract and beans until light and fluffy. Slowly add a little of the flour mixture, then add a little milk mixture. Keep alternating slowly until both are fully incorporated. Make sure it is mixed well.

4. Fill muffin tin, 2/3 way full. Bake for 20-24 minutes.

Directions for frosting:

1. Cream together butter and vanilla bean paste. Slowly add confectioners sugar.

2. Add vanilla and milk and mix until incorporated and fluffy!

Go Orange and Blue!

Sangria Weather!

It's suppose to be winter but it kind of felt like summer today. This is a problem. The solution? Winter Sangria! I'm a fan of this pomegranate vanilla sangria. With it's underlying hints of cinnamon and vanilla it was just different enough from summer sangria but had a nice toasty wintery feeling. I used a bottle of Hazlitt Red Cat (Woo NY Wine!) and my special vanilla beans that Miss Boo brought me from Tonga.

Obviously I need to get a pretty pitcher so my beverages can look all nice and classy instead of looking like a super alcoholic vat of booze.

Pomegranate Vanilla Sangria

(adapted from how sweet it is)

Ingredients:
1 orange, sliced
1 apple, chopped
1 pear, chopped
1 pomegranate
1 cinnamon sticks
2 vanilla beans
1 bottle red wine
1/2 cup brandy (I subbed Rum)

Club Soda, personal preference
Directions:
1. Add orange slices, apples, pears, cinnamon stick and pomegranate seeds to the bottom of a big pitcher. 

2. Pour wine and brandy in. Scrape vanilla beans and add to the mix. Throw in the bean pods too! 

3. Stir it all up and chill for 1 hour. Add desired amount of club soda.

4. Serve with spoons so you can eat all the yummy fruit!

Bits and Pieces

I must say that I make a pretty stellar vanilla milkshake. My chocolate ones aren't half bad either. I do tend to fail with strawberry. Mr. Lawyer says my vanilla milkshakes are some of the best ones he has ever had and I'm going to decide that it's not a boyfriend lie. My secret weapon?

Vanilla Bean Paste. It really does make a difference and it's so much better than vanilla extract. Not only is the flavor amazing but it adds little specks of vanilla bean that just up the game. Plus real vanilla beans are expensive unless they magically appear in your mailbox from some mystical tropical island (Hey Sandy!). Back to the milkshake. I have no exact recipe and wing it. It really depends on my mood. Sometimes you want a thick slurpy milkshake that requires a spoon and sometimes you want a smooth one that you can drink through a straw in 10 seconds so the milk to ice cream ratio varies. The good thing is that milkshakes are very forgiving you can add more milk/ice cream to fix it and not only do you reach your desired consistency but you also have more milkshake (and how is that a bad thing?!) I always add a good dollop of Vanilla Bean Paste. It's always awesome.

Vanilla Milkshakes

(the kitchen of Jenni)

Ingredients:
Vanilla Ice Cream
Milk
Vanilla Bean Paste
Directions:
1. Add your desired amount of ice cream and milk to blender and blend.
2. Blend in a good dollop of vanilla bean paste.
3. Enjoy one amazing milkshake.

I whipped up some vanilla milkshakes last night for our impromptu gathering and sous chef Amanda plated Nutella Graham Crackers (because Nutella is always a good idea). Now Nutella Graham Crackers tastes an awful lot like s'mores. Then Amanda made the amazing decision to dunk them into the milkshakes. S'more heaven.

And that's why we didn't have dinner last night.