It's been a long and demanding academic year... and now I'm done. I finished all my exams and coursework and will be graduating from he University of Nottingham this July with a MSci Neuroscience degree. I can't believe my student years are most likely officially over...
Despite the long hours spent revising and writing abstracts, grant proposal and dissertation, I found some time, every now and then, to do some cooking and baking. Nevertheless, I didn't post any of my recipes. There has been a demand for them, and I apologise that it's only now that I'm getting to it. Throughout the year, I came up with some very exciting flavours, however I have decided to start with a very traditional one - vanilla. First, this is a recipe that can be build upon and I'm probably going to refer to it fairly often; and second, there can never be enough vanilla - yes, it's my favourite flavour. It works well with light fruity fillings and frostings as well as with intense chocolatey and coffee mixtures.
You might have noticed that all of my recipes containing vanilla extract have a note attached saying that you shouldn't use the clear essence (in CZ and SK, Dr.Oetker is the one commonly found in stores). Also, when buying vanilla-flavoured sugar, you should double-check whether you're buying the real thing, or just the cheaper vanillin-flavoured one. A hint - if it's cheap, it's most likely the artificial vanillin version. A spoonful of vanillin in your cupcake/cake/whatever batter will most likely result in a very artificial, chemical and unpleasant taste. If you don't have the natural vanilla extract or seeds or vanilla-flavoured sugar and are thinking about using the artificial version, please don't. Your batter, for any cupcakes except for the vanilla ones, will be just fine without it. For the ultra vanilla cupcakes, recipe for which you can find below, you really need to use the real thing!
OK, let's get a bit geeky again!
Most of the vanilla-flavoured foods have a picture of a long dark brown bean and sometimes a yellow blossom next to it... That blossom is typical for the orchids of the genus Vanilla, the fruits of which are the oily long dark brown seed pods. Vanilla orchids grow like vine, climbing up trees or other support. For each blossom, if properly pollinated, there is exactly one pod. Even though the "most famous" vanilla nowadays is the one grown at Madagascar island, the so called Bourbon vanilla, the Vanilla genus originally comes from Mexico. Vanilla's journey from Mexico to other countries wasn't easy. The plant can only be naturally pollinated by bees of the Malipona genus, found exclusively in Mexico (mountain bees). Attempts to bring the mountain bees outside its natural territory failed, and only after artificial hand pollination was introduced in 1841 could vanilla pods be grown and harvested around the world (in suitable climates). Vanilla growers have to inspect their orchids at least once every day to be able to hand-pollinate, as the flower only lasts about one day, or even less. It is therefore no surprise that vanilla is considered the second most expensive spice, after saffron.
Despite the long hours spent revising and writing abstracts, grant proposal and dissertation, I found some time, every now and then, to do some cooking and baking. Nevertheless, I didn't post any of my recipes. There has been a demand for them, and I apologise that it's only now that I'm getting to it. Throughout the year, I came up with some very exciting flavours, however I have decided to start with a very traditional one - vanilla. First, this is a recipe that can be build upon and I'm probably going to refer to it fairly often; and second, there can never be enough vanilla - yes, it's my favourite flavour. It works well with light fruity fillings and frostings as well as with intense chocolatey and coffee mixtures.
You might have noticed that all of my recipes containing vanilla extract have a note attached saying that you shouldn't use the clear essence (in CZ and SK, Dr.Oetker is the one commonly found in stores). Also, when buying vanilla-flavoured sugar, you should double-check whether you're buying the real thing, or just the cheaper vanillin-flavoured one. A hint - if it's cheap, it's most likely the artificial vanillin version. A spoonful of vanillin in your cupcake/cake/whatever batter will most likely result in a very artificial, chemical and unpleasant taste. If you don't have the natural vanilla extract or seeds or vanilla-flavoured sugar and are thinking about using the artificial version, please don't. Your batter, for any cupcakes except for the vanilla ones, will be just fine without it. For the ultra vanilla cupcakes, recipe for which you can find below, you really need to use the real thing!
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| My humble collection |
Most of the vanilla-flavoured foods have a picture of a long dark brown bean and sometimes a yellow blossom next to it... That blossom is typical for the orchids of the genus Vanilla, the fruits of which are the oily long dark brown seed pods. Vanilla orchids grow like vine, climbing up trees or other support. For each blossom, if properly pollinated, there is exactly one pod. Even though the "most famous" vanilla nowadays is the one grown at Madagascar island, the so called Bourbon vanilla, the Vanilla genus originally comes from Mexico. Vanilla's journey from Mexico to other countries wasn't easy. The plant can only be naturally pollinated by bees of the Malipona genus, found exclusively in Mexico (mountain bees). Attempts to bring the mountain bees outside its natural territory failed, and only after artificial hand pollination was introduced in 1841 could vanilla pods be grown and harvested around the world (in suitable climates). Vanilla growers have to inspect their orchids at least once every day to be able to hand-pollinate, as the flower only lasts about one day, or even less. It is therefore no surprise that vanilla is considered the second most expensive spice, after saffron.
Despite its costs, vanilla flavour is abundantly used in the food industry. Nevertheless, to make the production of vanilla-flavoured food more affordable, artificial synthetic vanillin obtained by chemical synthesis from the petrochemical guaiacol is mostly used to generate this favourite flavour. Although vanillin (4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde or O8H8O3) is a major contributor to the characteristic aroma of vanilla, its contribution is still less than 50%. There are hundreds of flavour compounds found in the vanilla pod, combination of which results in the specific smell and flavour called vanilla.
In conclusion, vanilla essence usually comes in two forms. The real seedpod extract containing several hundred different chemicals, including acetaldehyde, acetic acid, furfural hexanoic acid, eugenol, and methyl cinnamate; and the synthetic essence consisting purely of synthetic vanillin in ethanol.
(Don't be fooled by a brown or amber colour of the essence, some manufacturers add colourings to make it look like the real thing!)
(Don't be fooled by a brown or amber colour of the essence, some manufacturers add colourings to make it look like the real thing!)
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| Ultra Vanilla Cupcakes with Frosting Inspired by my Great-grandmother |
The frosting recipe was inspired by my great-grandmother's egg-yolk vanilla cream which she used as a filling for various pastries, my favourite being mini žloutkové věnečky (mini egg-yolk chaplets).
I used my home-made vanilla sugar (both granulated and powdered). It's very easy to make your own - just take a jar and fill (3/4) with sugar then take vanilla pods split in two (I usually recycle, so that I use the seeds for baking/cooking and than take the "empty" pods) and stick them in the jar so that they are all covered in sugar. Shake the jar a few times and leave it closed for several days. Tadaaa - after a few days you can open the jar a enjoy the rich vanilla smell - just like that you made your own vanilla sugar.
Ingredients (makes for about 18 cupcakes)
Cupcakes115 g butter
1&2/3 cup plain flour
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup full fat milk
1/4 cup white yogurt
0.5 tsp. baking powder
0.25 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (now you know which one to pick)
2 large egg whites (save the yolks for the frosting)
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Vanilla Frosting
250 g mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
powdered sugar
Directions
Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Beat egg whites with sugar
3. Add melted butter and yogurt and mix thoroughly
4. Add vanilla extract and seeds and mix
5. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and slowly add the dry mixture and milk to the wet mixture and mix thoroughly until smooth
6. Line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake cases and fill each one a bit over 1/2 full
Bake for about 20 minutes (toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean)
Vanilla Frosting
1. Mix the mascarpone with egg yolks
2. Add powdered sugar (to taste) and vanilla extract and seeds and beat thoroughly until smooth and creamy
