Bo Friberg

Vanilla Extract

Preparation info
  • Yield:

    1 quart

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in
top 1000The Professional Pastry Chef
The Professional Pastry Chef

By Bo Friberg

Published 1989

  • About

Making your own vanilla extract is as easy as 1, 2, 3—it merely requires advance planning. The two whole beans added at the end are purely for decoration, but the extract does make a great place to store them.

Ingredients

  • 8 long, soft vanilla beans
  • 1 quart (960 ml) good-quality vodka

Method

  1. Split 6 of the beans lengthwise, then cut them into small pieces.
  2. Put the vanilla pieces and the vodka in a jar with a lid and seal tightly.
  3. Let stand in a dark, cool place for about 1 month, shaking the bottle from time to time.
  4. Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth.
  5. Clean the