Vanilla sugar and vanilla essence

Some of the recipes in this book call for vanilla sugar. This is made by storing 2 vanilla pods in a jar of caster or granulated sugar. The jar can be topped up with more sugar for some time as the pods have quite a long life.

A few recipes call for vanilla essence. In the United States, pure vanilla extract is widely used in baking, but it is expensive and hard to find in this country. The artificial vanilla flavouring which is sometimes called vanilla essence here will impart a different flavour and should not be used as a substitute.