Nice surprise

Saturday I recieved a package in the mail that I wasn't expecting. It was from an old friend of mine. Her and I were best friends in Junior High and then she had to move, her dad was in the Air Force. Since I joined MySpace and then Facebook I managed to reconnect with her. Which is great..and sad at the same time because I miss her. Anyway..we had been talking about desserts and I had said that cheesecake was my favorite (her favorite too) and she asked if I had ever had vanilla bean cheesecake. Nope I hadn't. That was the conversation. Sat in the mail I recieve a package. It was from her. I open it up and here is a beautiful fancy cellophane wrapped bottle with a note. In the note it explained that the contents of the bottle was homemade vanilla extract (with the whole vanilla beans in the bottle). The extract is homemade and the beans can also be used for recipes that call for vanilla beans. She included the recipe for Vanilla Bean cheesecake. What an awesome thing I thought! I think I am going to make some homemade extract for my SIL, sisters, and mom. You take a bottle of vodka almost 3/4 full and add about 10 full vanilla beans (Grade A Madagascar Bourbon vanilla beans) Depending on the bottle, you want to make sure that the bottle is easy enough to get the beans out of if you want to use one for a recipe (considering the beans are about 6 to 7 in long). You tip the bottle once a day for about a month, about that time the vodka should be amber colored and it's actually extract at this point. THe longer the beans steep in the vodka the truer and stronger the vanilla flavor. If you take a bottle of pure vanilla extract and compare the smell and taste to this one, they are dead on. She used a pretty bottle for mine, it was a Bombay Sapphire bottle with the label off, very pretty. Anyway she says she made them for Christmas gifts one year and now everyone requests her to make them when they run out..I thought it was a neat idea, I'm definitely going to attempt this..

I forgot to add that if you want it sweeter, you can add 10% corn syrup, but I find that without the corn syrup it's the same as the actual Pure vanilla extract I purchased at the store

I also forgot to mention that I cannot get vanilla beans here, none of the stores have them. My friend told me that she buys hers online because she gets better prices than her local stores in PA. This is the website of the place she orders through http://www.vanillaproductsusa.com/servlet/StoreFront they also sell on ebay and accept paypal just in case any of you are interested in making the extract too...

That was really nice Kelly

vodka,no wonder vanilla extract is expensive lol

I don't know what alcohol they use in the vanilla extract you buy in the store, but if you read the label it says vanilla extractives, alcohol, and water..

This is the recipe for the extract from the supplier of the beans:
(the only difference is my friend left the beans whole, which looks prettier and enables you to pull out a full bean or two for recipes instead of having to fish out bits of bean)

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Making your own vanilla extract is surprisingly easy. Just take several beans, chop them into 1/2 inch pieces, and place the beans in a pint of high quality liquor. The choice is yours, but the less taste the liquor imparts, the better. Vodka is the usual choice, but rum and brandy can be used. Vodka is about 40% alcohol, or 80 proof.

Some people prefer to slice the beans open lengthwise. Slicing lengthwise takes more time, and by chopping the beans you increase the surface area of the beans and reduce the time it takes to make the vanilla extract.

You can try making extract from Planifolia and Tahitian vanilla beans as well, and you can use extract grade or prime gourmet grade beans.

If you choose to use 100% alcohol (DON'T use isopropyl alcohol or any other type of alcohol not meant for human consumption, it can kill you), add two parts distilled water for each part alcohol. Otherwise, the beans will dry out (it will NOT speed up the extract process). The term "made with 100% grain neutral spirits" does not mean that the contents are 100% alcohol. The bottle should have the alcohol content listed.

Shake the bottle once a day for about a month. Voila! Homemade vanilla extract.

Exactly how many beans should you use? By law, commercial producers of vanilla extract must use at least 0.8 pounds of beans for every gallon that they produce. A gallon is 128 ounces, and a pint is 1/8 of a gallon, so you would want to use at least 0.1 pounds of vanilla beans, or 1.6 ounces.

However, commercial producers have a more sophisticated production method than just chopping the beans and shaking them in a bottle. We suggest using more beans in order to ensure that you get a strong enough extract when you are done - at least two ounces of beans for a pint of extract.

We sell beans by the ten pack as well as by weight. The weight of a ten pack varies depending upon the species, quality (gourmet or extract grade), and length. For our typical 6 to 7 inch varieties, the weight varies from around 1.3 ounces per 10 pack for Planifolia Extract grade beans to about 1.8 ounces for Planifolia Gourmet.

A nice way to get started is to buy our 30 vanilla bean assortment that you can find in our store (it contains 10 each of Madagascar Gourmet, Madagascar Extract, and Tahitian Grade A vanilla beans) and buy a pint of vodka. Split the vodka into three separate containers and put 10 beans of each variety into each of the separate containers. Make sure that the beans are completely covered by the vodka or else the part that is exposed will dry out. This is probably more beans than you need, but you don't want weak extract (too strong is ok).

Most commercial vanilla extract comes sweetened. This helps cut the alcohol smell. You can do the same by adding some corn syrup or sugar water - about 10% by volume.

How do you know when the extract is done? Smell is one way, and another way is by the color - it should be a nice deep amber color. You can't compare the color to what you buy at the store because they often add coloring agents.

I would use a good vodka, since you gotta drink 1/4 of the bottle right off, stolichnya is my personal fave.
Thats a good idea though
I have a friend who makes all sorts of oils and vinegars with herbs she grows.....i will tell her about this one.

ummmm. vanilla beans, mucho expensive, and what you received from your friend is about as good as it can get... what a great friend!

What a cool surprise! I like vanilla and my daughter Caly loves it. I may have to try it out. I'm sure Scott would be willing to drink the vodka for me. I drink, but never much at one time.

I'll drink the vodka for anyone here who doesn't drink it lol. My fave is absolut and I love absolut cranberry on ice.

Yes bizzeedee, they are gourmet grade vanilla beans, you can also use the Madagascar Grade B bourbon beans too which are a little cheaper. The prices listed on the website I posted aren't too bad, they also give you some free vanilla beans with purchase. If you don't use the beans in recipes but use the extract, you can just pour more vodka in and use the vanilla beans until they no longer turn the vodka brown. It seems expensive, but when you figure the price of real vanilla extract and how much it would cost to buy enough bottles to equal the size bottle she sent me, it's worth it..

I agree with Erin, might as well buy a vodka you like because you will end up drinking about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle. I don't drink vodka though, I may have to have someone help me with that.

I just got done looking thrugh my recipe box looking for a similar recipe someone gave me over 25 years ago. I never made it, so I must have thrown it out. I do remember it saying to split the vanilla beans lengthwise. This is an idea for Christmas, although not every woman in my family bakes. Maybe I'll just make some as a "just because" for those who do bake. And yes, the last bottle I bought was very expensive. It was a great big one, too, because I was tired of running out.

I get real vanilla from my friend when she goes to Mexico, $3-4 bucks for a liter(litre for the canucks)bottle, not too bad. I am gonna get some beans and make some myself....cheap on ebay.

erin, if the seller is vanillaproducts, it's the same people who run the website I posted above, they also sell on ebay..

It is!

that is such a great gift and thanks for sharing the recipe! I think I may just have to make some on my own... great christmas gift idea! get some cute small bottles and then one giant yummy bottle of vodka...its genius!