Vanilla Bean Dessert Recipes

Here are three delicious, dessert recipes to try out which feature real vanilla beans and vanilla extract.

Vanilla beans come from the dried and cured fruit of a variety of orchid flower. The curing of vanilla beans can take up to six months to produce a bean of superior quality, making this one of the more expensive spices available.

Vanilla Sugar Recipe

Vanilla sugar can be used in place of plain granulated sugar to flavor hot or iced tea or coffee, and in your cookie, pie and cake recipes. This sugar can also be used in the other two recipes featured in this article.

Ingredients for vanilla sugar:

• 1 whole vanilla bean
• 2 cups granulated sugar

Directions for vanilla sugar:

1. Place the vanilla bean into a glass jar and completely cover it with the sugar.
2. Close the lid making sure it is airtight.
3. Shake the container once a day to help the aroma of the vanilla permeate throughout the sugar.
4. The sugar is ready to be used within two weeks.
5. The vanilla bean can be reused to flavor additional granulated sugar.
6. Discard the vanilla bean when it is no longer aromatic.

Vanilla Bean Pudding Recipe

You can serve this pudding on Valentine’s Day to tap into vanillas magical properties of love and passion. You may want to make this pudding using vanilla sugar in place of the granulated sugar.

Ingredients for vanilla bean pudding:

• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 3 cups milk
• vanilla bean - cut in half lengthwise, use the back of a knife to scrape out the seeds
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for vanilla bean pudding:

1. Beat the egg whites in a small bowl with an electric mixture until lightly frothy and set aside.
2. In a medium pan whisk together the sugar and cornstarch.
3. Add the milk, vanilla bean seeds, vanilla bean pod and honey and whisk well.
4. Place the pan over a larger pan of boiling water and cook while whisking continuously until the mixture begins to boil and thickens.
5. Cook for 1 more minute then remove from the heat and remove and discard the vanilla bean pod.
6. Mix in approximately 1/4 cup of the pudding mix into the egg whites to prevent the eggs from curdling.
7. Add the egg mixture to the pot of pudding and whisk well.
8. Return the pan to the heat and cook until thickened.
9. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
10. Pour the pudding into a large bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill.

Vanilla Infused Hot Chocolate Recipe

Ancient Aztecs and Mayans drank ground up cocoa beans mixed with water in a beverage that was called xocoatl, or bitter water. Europeans later added sugar and spices, such as cinnamon and vanilla, to make the drink more agreeable to European tastes. This beverage evolved into the more familiar hot chocolate that we enjoy today. This recipe makes 6 eight ounce servings.

Ingredients for vanilla infused hot chocolate:

• 1 vanilla bean
• 4 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions for vanilla infused hot chocolate:

1. Cut the vanilla bean in half length wise and scrape out the seeds.
2. Add the seeds to a large sauce pan.
3. Add the milk and cream to the sauce pan and place over medium heat.
4. Cook until the liquid is well heated being sure not to scorch it.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips, sugar and vanilla extract.
6. Stir continuously until the chocolate is thoroughly melted.
7. Pour into individual mugs.

Additional Information

Here is a link for an article featuring herb infused recipes: Sage, Lavender and Mint Desserts.

Vanilla Pudding

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