After you make your own vanilla essence you will never go back to the shop bought imitation junk with additives like corn syrup, thickeners, artificial colours, caramel colour, stabilisers and fake vanilla in the form of vanillin made from the petroleum and wood pulp industry.
Prepare a clean glass jar or bottle, depending on how much you make will depend on the size of the bottle.
Split vanilla beans lengthwise and then in half.
Place all the vanilla into the bottle and pour the alcohol over the beans.
Place the lid on the glass jar and leave in a dark place like your pantry for at least 2-3 months.
Shake occasionally.
As the weeks pass, the clear spirits like vodka will develop a brown colour. If you have used a brown rum the colour will deepen further and become cloudy and less transparent. The longer it stands the stronger and more aromatic your homemade vanilla extract will become. So that you remember the date you made your homemade essence place a sticker on your bottle of essence with the date you made it.
The first time I made vanilla extract I could hardly wait for the three months to pass, so I started using it at 6 weeks and it was pungent at that stage, but I’ve noticed as time passes it just becomes absolutely the best essence.
When the three months is up, I usually take out about 100 ml and put it in another small clean jar, then I top up my original jar with more of the primary alcohol. You can do this for around 3 years. Remember there will be other people who may like a small bottle of your homemade vanilla essence, so make enough for gifts for friends or teach them to make their own.
[cooked-sharing]
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare a clean glass jar or bottle, depending on how much you make will depend on the size of the bottle.
Split vanilla beans lengthwise and then in half.
Place all the vanilla into the bottle and pour the alcohol over the beans.
Place the lid on the glass jar and leave in a dark place like your pantry for at least 2-3 months.
Shake occasionally.
As the weeks pass, the clear spirits like vodka will develop a brown colour. If you have used a brown rum the colour will deepen further and become cloudy and less transparent. The longer it stands the stronger and more aromatic your homemade vanilla extract will become. So that you remember the date you made your homemade essence place a sticker on your bottle of essence with the date you made it.
The first time I made vanilla extract I could hardly wait for the three months to pass, so I started using it at 6 weeks and it was pungent at that stage, but I’ve noticed as time passes it just becomes absolutely the best essence.
When the three months is up, I usually take out about 100 ml and put it in another small clean jar, then I top up my original jar with more of the primary alcohol. You can do this for around 3 years. Remember there will be other people who may like a small bottle of your homemade vanilla essence, so make enough for gifts for friends or teach them to make their own.
Thanks for sharing. Can you tell me how many vanilla beans should be used initially & then once you use some & add more alcohol, would you need to add another bean/beans???
Hi Annette,
For every 500ml of alcohol you will need to use 6 vanilla pods. There’s no need to add additional pods! You can keep re-using the same pods for up to 2 years. Cyndi made a how-to video so you can follow along: https://youtu.be/7WvL4QNvrMs
Just an FYI, Gin is not made from juniper berries. It is made by distilling neutral alcohol, which is usually made from grain, with botanicals (juniper plus other many others).
Hi
I noticed that there is no mention of the alcohol being organic. Is this important? I have vodka here already that I could use but it is not organic.. Thank you
Hi Lauren, you can definitely choose organic vodka if you like, it can be a little more expensive though. You can do a search on google and lots of different organic vodka brands pop up.
Is it possible to make this without alcohol?
Hi Sharon, you could make vanilla powder instead which is simply just vanilla beans ground into a powder form. We use a thermomix to do this.
Do you use this teaspoon for teaspoon in any recipe requiring vanilla?
Hi Sheryl. Yes, correct. Just use 1:1 when a recipe calls for vanilla essence.
Hi, I’m a complete newbie at making vanilla essence, but can’t wait to try! Can anyone please tell me if the price of your alcohol you buy, reflects ..at all, on the taste quality of your homemade vanilla essence? I don’t drink alcohol, so I’m completely in the dark here. Thanks.
Hello Veronica, yes the price of the alcohol will have some impact. Just steer clear of the cheapest brands and you will be fine.