Vanilla
Used in 26 recipes on RecipeWiki.
Vanilla comes from the cured pod of a climbing orchid, and it has a sweet, warm, floral fragrance that rounds out cream, eggs and butter. This page covers vanilla extract, whole vanilla pods and vanilla ice cream. A split pod, its tiny seeds scraped into the milk, flavours Vanilla Custard, Crème Caramel and Vanilla Panna Cotta, leaving the visible black specks. Extract is the everyday choice in baking such as Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ice cream forms the hidden centre of Baked Alaska. Choose pure extract over vanilla flavouring. After scraping a pod, bury it in a jar of sugar to scent it.
Most often cooked with
Egg
Sugar
Butter
Flour
Cream
Milk
Lemon
Soured creamRecipes with vanilla
Apple and Almond Tart
A shortcrust case blind baked, filled with almond frangipane and fanned apple, so the base stays crisp under a wet filling.
Desserts
French
Vegetarian
Baked Alaska
Ice cream on a sponge base sealed under meringue and browned in a fierce oven, which works because whipped egg white barely conducts heat.
American
Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
A dense baked cheesecake on a biscuit base, cooled slowly in the switched-off oven and chilled overnight so the top does not crack.
Cheese
Banana Bread
Blackened bananas mashed into a soured-cream batter and baked low, so the crumb stays damp and the sugar-heavy crust does not burn before the middle sets.
Baking
Breakfast
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter and a long overnight rest, which deepens the flavour and stops them spreading thin.
Chocolate
Cinnamon Bun Concoction
Two tubes of shop-bought cinnamon rolls, cut into pieces and baked in a maple custard. It comes together in ten minutes and feeds a table.
Scandinavian
Crème Caramel
A baked custard turned out under its own caramel, cooked in a water bath at a low temperature so it sets smooth rather than pitted.
Dark Chocolate Brownies
Fudgy brownies built on melted dark chocolate and eggs whisked to a foam, which is what gives them their paper-thin crackled top.
Festival
Slightly sweet cornmeal dumplings rolled long, fried until crisp outside and cakey within, and eaten with anything fried or jerked.
Caribbean
Side dishes
French Toast
Thick slices of stale bread soaked in an egg and milk custard, then fried in butter over medium heat so the centre sets without the crust burning.
Guryev Kasha
Semolina baked in layers between the skins lifted from scalded cream, with nuts, preserved fruit and caramel.
Russian
Kulich
Tall enriched Easter bread coloured with saffron and studded with raisins, finished with a white glaze that runs down the sides.
Bread
Medovik
Honey layer cake of thin baked discs, filled with soured cream and left overnight until the layers soften into cake.
Paskha
Sweetened curd cheese beaten with butter, egg yolks and candied fruit, then drained overnight in a pyramid mould.
Pavlova
A meringue dried for two hours in a cool oven so the shell stays crisp and the centre collapses to marshmallow under the cream.
Australian
Ptichye Moloko
An agar-set soufflé of whipped egg white, sugar syrup and butter on thin sponge, sealed under dark chocolate.
Sharlotka
Apple sponge with far more fruit than batter, the eggs whisked to a foam that just holds the apples in place as it bakes.
Smetannik
Soft honey-scented sponge layers stacked with a whipped soured cream filling and left overnight to soften.
Sticky Toffee Pudding
A dark date sponge skewered and soaked with hot toffee sauce the moment it leaves the oven, then served with the rest of the sauce.
British
Swiss Roll
A fatless whisked sponge baked in ten minutes and rolled while it is still hot, which is the only way it curls without cracking.
Syrniki
Fried curd-cheese fritters made from drained tvorog, crisp at the edge and soft in the middle, eaten with soured cream.
Toasted Honey Granola
An oat and almond granola bound with honey and baked in a slab, so it breaks into proper clusters rather than loose dust.
Vanilla Custard
A pouring custard of egg yolks, milk and cream thickened over low heat until it coats the back of a spoon.
Vanilla Panna Cotta
Cream set with just enough gelatine to hold its shape for a moment on the plate and then slump under the first spoon.
Italian
Vatrushka
Yeasted buns pressed into a ring around a well of sweetened curd cheese, baked until the filling sets to a soft custard.
Zapekanka
Curd cheese baked with semolina, egg and raisins into a light set pudding, eaten warm with soured cream.
