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Vanilla
T and I are long-time subscribers to Cook's Illustrated, a magazine put out by the same folks as the PBS cooking show America's Test Kitchen. One of the regular features is taste tests, where the editors taste different types of the same ingredient to determine which one tastes best, and which is the best value. Not too long ago, they published the results of their vanilla testing, which pointed to imitation vanilla as not only the best value (since it's something like 10x cheaper per ounce) but equally good in flavor to their preferred pure vanilla. On some level this isn't too surprising, since the chemical that provides the actual vanilla flavor, vanillin, is chemically identical in both the artificial and natural versions, but it still took us a bit aback. And it took our friends R and S so far aback that they decided we needed a vanilla tasting of our own. So we got together for brunch, and then did a bunch of baking, and had our taste test today.
We tried six different kinds of vanilla -- the imitation brand that won the Cook's taste test, three brands of store-bought pure vanilla, one vanilla that our friend Jen made herself with vanilla beans and vodka, and a vanilla powder -- in four different dishes: pound cake, shortbread cookies, pudding, and whipped cream. And, although the imitation vanilla wasn't anyone's favorite, only one person liked it the least. I put it in about the middle of the pack, ranking it higher in fresh applications than in baked goods. My favorite was actually the homemade, but I didn't like it so much better that I feel the need to start making it for myself. And fortunately, my second or third favorite was the kind we currently have in our house (which happens to be the natural vanilla that the magazine editors also liked the best).
Maybe the most interesting outcome was that, especially in the pudding, people tended to prefer different vanillas mixed together to any one vanilla alone. It's like the slightly different flavors complement each other in unexpected ways. Not necessarily to the point that I would recommend having six different vanillas in your house and making custom blends. :) But it certainly is a thing that one could do.
It was a fascinating experiment, and I'm already considering whether we can do similar trials with other foods in the future.
We tried six different kinds of vanilla -- the imitation brand that won the Cook's taste test, three brands of store-bought pure vanilla, one vanilla that our friend Jen made herself with vanilla beans and vodka, and a vanilla powder -- in four different dishes: pound cake, shortbread cookies, pudding, and whipped cream. And, although the imitation vanilla wasn't anyone's favorite, only one person liked it the least. I put it in about the middle of the pack, ranking it higher in fresh applications than in baked goods. My favorite was actually the homemade, but I didn't like it so much better that I feel the need to start making it for myself. And fortunately, my second or third favorite was the kind we currently have in our house (which happens to be the natural vanilla that the magazine editors also liked the best).
Maybe the most interesting outcome was that, especially in the pudding, people tended to prefer different vanillas mixed together to any one vanilla alone. It's like the slightly different flavors complement each other in unexpected ways. Not necessarily to the point that I would recommend having six different vanillas in your house and making custom blends. :) But it certainly is a thing that one could do.
It was a fascinating experiment, and I'm already considering whether we can do similar trials with other foods in the future.
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I guess I'll be baking tomorrow :)
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I have discovered that there are definitely different qualities of imitation vanilla, though. And since discovering that, I try not to run out of the good kind.
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I would say that our experience with mixing together the different puddings is excellent evidence that it's a good idea to mix natural and imitation vanilla!
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Christine adores vanilla: i don't suppose you are up to sharing the kind you have in your house and the imitation brand?
I've enjoyed keeping vanilla beans in sugar over the years as a "homemade" vanilla flavoring.
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What do you want to know about the small food processors? Just which was the winner? I'm not comfortably publicly posting the entire article, but I can give you whatever basic info you need.
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I don't make my own proper vanilla extract, per se, but I sometimes make a strongly-vanilla-infused bourbon in small amounts. It's my ~secret ingredient~ in one particular recipe, and makes a really excellent vanilla buttercream.
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