Learn to make vanilla extract that can last for generations
Vivian Waycaster is one of countless home cooks who have vanilla extract in their kitchen cabinet. But for her, it’s not a grocery store ingredient. It’s so much more.
It started when she inherited her mother’s mason jar of homemade vanilla extract. “My mom and her friends went to the liquor store and got the cheapest liquor they could get and found the cheapest vanilla beans they could find. They put them in to soak without much measuring or consideration, just to see what would happen,” explains Vivian.
The group of friends held on to their little experiment for years, regularly replenishing their own personal stashes and feeding the “mother batch” with new beans and alcohol. The idea of a mother batch is very similar to a sourdough starter, in that you take what you need and then add new ingredients to the mother batch to keep it going. Over time, the extract becomes so complex that it creates new batches of vanilla more quickly.
Vivian has experimented with countless combinations, but her favorite is a double fold (meaning double the vanilla of a normal recipe) made with Captain Morgan white rum and Ugandan vanilla beans. “I find this extract to be pretty fruity, sometimes tart,” says Vivian.
She likes pairing this particular extract with fruit-forward desserts like her peach ice cream. Alongside her extracts, she has created vanilla bean body butter, vanilla sugar, vanilla cardamom powder, and even infused honey.
She loves the thrill when a new batch of extract is ready. “It’s just so exciting that, whatever you anticipated when putting it in there, in eight to 24 months it’s everything you hoped it would be,” she says.
Vanilla extract is more than an ingredient; it’s part of the people who make it and who choose to keep it alive.
So run to your nearest liquor store and order beans online (Vivian suggests indrivanilla.com). Who knows? You might create an ingredient so great that your family will enjoy your delicious desserts for decades to come.
RECIPE
Double Fold White Rum and Ugandan Vanilla Extract
Yield: 8 ounces
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 12 to 14 months
Ingredients:
2 ounces Ugandan vanilla beans (sourced from Indri Vanilla)
8 ounces Captain Morgan White Rum
Directions:
- Split the vanilla beans in half with a sharp knife to expose all of the beautiful speckles.
- Place the split vanilla beans into a clean glass jar and top off with 8 ounces of white rum. Ensure that the beans are fully submerged.
- Allow to mature in a dark place for 12 to 14 months. Shake the bottle 1 to 4 times a month, as desired.
- Your extract is ready when it no longer smells strongly of alcohol.
Gracie Driver is a full-time student at Southwest Tennessee Community College and local tutor for elementary English students. She has worked for La Baguette, Hustle & Dough, Amelia Gene’s, and Artesanal de Tela. She now focuses her knowledge and passion for food with freelance writing and baking services—and interning with Edible Memphis. @gracie.d.bakes
Emma Meskovic is the digital marketing specialist at City & State, an illustrator, and a roller derby rookie who loves taking photos of everyone’s food before they can touch it. She works as creative director for Edible Memphis. @emmamesk