Homemade Vanilla Extract

As I was googling and shopping around for more information about vanilla beans and homemade vanilla extract. I came to know that there are two varieties of vanilla beans commonly used for cooking and baking and there are: 

Madagascar variety

Grown on the islands of Reunion and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, these vanilla beans have a very rich full-bodied woody flavour. They are the most frequently used beans because of their versatility and they are most commonly used to flavour ice cream, baked goods, chocolate and other sweets.

Tahitian variety

Native grown in Oceania, a cluster of islands in the Pacific Ocean, these vanilla beans are considered relatively rare and much more delicate than the Madagascan beans. These beans have light floral overtones and work optimally in dessert that don't require intense heat to prepare. For this reason, they are highly recommended to be used with delicate or fruit-based desserts, such as ice creams and custard.

The good new for me is I have managed to buy both kinds of these vanilla beans! *HAPPY* The Barefoot Contessa recipe sounds really easy and achievable for me but having a BIG bottle of vanilla extract with 12 vanilla extract seems to be too much for me. So, I've decided to use the recipe mostly adapted from Joy the Baker for my smaller consumption and more versatility.

I simply love observing the progress of  "extracting" these vanilla beans. It feels like watching "a child growing". I have taken lots of photo for all my observations and hope you will appreciate the transitions of these extraction as much as I do.

Here are my two bottles of homemade vanilla extract.

The vanilla beans that I've bought

This was what I did...

Then wait...

Finally after 2 months, both extracts are really to use.

Here's my recipe mostly adapted from Joy the Baker

Basically, I have made two types of vanilla extract:

One jar is filled with vodka and Madagascar vanilla beans.

The other jar is filled with rum and Tahitian vanilla beans.

These are the things that I need to make my vanilla extract:

Two good-sealing jars (1 cup capacity each)

Alcohol (vodka or rum)

Three vanilla beans per cup of alcohol

A dark spot to store the jars.

Two months at least - to achieve a optimal extract!

Use a sharp paring knife to cut lengthwise down the center of the vanilla beans, leaving about an inch at the top of the vanilla bean uncut.

Put the vanilla beans in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Cover the beans completely with alcohol.  Ideally, there should be 3 or more vanilla beans per cup of alcohol.

Tightly cover the jar and give it a good shake. Store in a cool dry place for two months. Give the bottle a good shake every week. By the end of two months, the extract will be ready for use.

Although the vanilla extract using vodka seems to be lighter at first but it got really darken after two months of extraction. Due to the sugar content in rum, the rum extract tends to look thicker and richer in flavours but I think both extracts are special with their own unique characters. The Madagascar one is more woody while the Tahitian one smells so sweet with nice floral tones. I can't wait to use these for my future bakes...

Additional tips: 

If the extract is running low, top it off with more liquor (preferably of the same type) and shake again. 

Every once in a while, I would continue to feed the extract by replacing the older beans with new beans if extract seems to get diluted and I will use the older beans to make vanilla sugar. 

The extract can sit at room temperature indefinitely... imagine keeping this extract "alive" for the next 10, 20 or 50 years! LOL!

Have fun extracting!

Please support me and like me at Facebook.