Vanilla Sugar
When a simple baking recipe calls for a combination of vanilla extract and sugar as two of its ingredients, I usually reach for the vanilla sugar as a substitute.
- Pour half of the sugar in to an airtight container
- Drop in the whole vanilla pods
- Pour in the remainder of the sugar
- Tightly seal the lid, then wait...
- To use in a recipe, just take out the equivalent amount of vanilla sugar that you need.
Because most recipes call for so little vanilla extract, 2.5 ml (1/2 tsp) or 10 ml (2 tsp) I don't bother substituting with an increase in some other ingredient. It is rare to meet a recipe so delicately balanced that removing 5 ml of liquid will have any effect on the final result.
When the container with the vanilla pods gets down to about half way full, top up it back up with more sugar.
The vanilla pods are good for a year or more in a regular household kitchen. In my kitchen, I change the pods out every three or four months because I go through so much sugar on a weekly basis due to my baking exercises.