Friday, June 19, 2015

Happy National Vanilla Milkshake Day!



On June 20, 2015, Celebrate National Vanilla Milkshake Day with a Tahitian Vanilla Bean Malted Milkshake!

Ingredients: 
1 cup cold whole milk
1 teaspoon Tahitian vanilla extract
Seeds from 1 Tahitian vanilla bean 
2 cups vanilla ice cream
3 tablespoons malted milk powder
1/4 cup malted milk balls, crushed

Preparation: 
Chill 2 tall glasses in the freezer for 1 hour.

In blender, combine milk, vanilla extract, and seeds from the vanilla bean.

Cover and blend a just few seconds to evenly distribute the vanilla seeds. Add ice cream and malted milk powder to blender.

Blend more until thick and creamy, pushing ice cream into blades as needed. Divide milk shake between chilled glasses. Top each milk shake with crushed malted milk balls and serve with a straw and long spoon.

Serves two.
Remember to reserve vanilla bean pod for another use! Here are some ideas on what to do with spent vanilla bean pods.



Save on the main ingredients:

Tahitian Vanilla Beans – Buy one 3-bean vial, save 25% on a second! 

Vanilla Extract + Two FREE Vanilla Beans – Purchase at least one 4oz Vanilla Extract from us, we'll automatically include a FREE 2-pod Vanilla Bean sample! 

Bake with Love. Bake with Vanilla From Tahiti.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

What is pure Tahitian vanilla extract?


Pure. The word conjures images of unadulterated spring water gushing forth in a pristine environment under a blue sky filled with sunshine. Or perhaps your mental image is of gleaming 100% gold bullion, unalloyed with inferior metals. The word pure is often seen alongside the words natural, authentic, and true, implying a homogeneous composition, free from extraneous matter.

Our pure Tahitian vanilla extract is made up of a solution containing the finest Tahitian vanilla beans, grain-free alcohol and water. That’s it! We use only real Tahitian vanilla beans originating in French Polynesia (official name: Vanilla X Tahitensis JB Moore) and we don't mix it with other, cheaper, similar kinds of beans—such as Papua New Guinea beans, which would lower costs, but also diminish the flavor.

See, the flavor and fragrance of vanilla is contained in the oil of vanilla beans and seeds. When the oily beans are steeped in alcohol, the vanilla essence in the oil is dissolved and the flavor is extracted. The alcohol evaporates in the cooking process leaving the flavor of vanilla in your food. This purity is what sets Vanilla From Tahiti apart from the others.

Allergic to gluten? Many other vanilla extracts are made with grain alcohol, which could cause an allergic reaction. Because we use synthetically derived ethyl alcohol (ethanol), not derived from grain, our extract is allergy-free. Learn more about how we keep our extract allergy-free and safe.

Diabetic or avoiding sugar and carbs? Some vanilla extracts are filled with sugar, starch, or toxic coumarin, which means they’re cheaper to make. When you find cheaper imitation or artificial vanilla at your grocery store, it is made from synthetic vanillin—the same compound that is naturally found in vanilla beans. Synthetic vanillin is most often made from lignin, a wood pulp byproduct from the paper industry, or castoreum, beaver anal gland secretions. (We’re not making this stuff up!)

Extract derived from natural vanilla beans includes several hundred different compounds in addition to vanillin which give it complexity. Sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Which is better for you and your family; real food or chemicals? The list highlighting what our extract doesn’t contain is long: sugar, starch, fillers, castoreum or beaver anal gland secretion, synthetic vanillin, artificial colors, additional flavors, preservatives, emulsifiers, carriers, antioxidants, ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, ethyl vanillin, coumarin or any chemical that is next to impossible to pronounce.

Bake with love, bake with Vanilla From Tahiti!

Monday, June 1, 2015

Grade A vanilla is better than Grade B vanilla, right?



One would think that Grade A would be better than Grade B, right? And in most applications one would be correct. But when it comes to vanilla beans, the distinction isn’t about quality, but use.

Grade A vanilla, also known as gourmet, prime or premium grade, is best for cooking and when appearances matter, say for a garnish. They have a higher moisture content and more seeds, also known as caviar.

Grade B vanilla, or extract grade, is best for making extract. Go figure. And when you think about it, appearances don’t matter at all for extract. Grade B beans have just a little less moisture. They also have some cracks and splits, and just aren’t quite as pretty, but cosmetics doesn’t affect flavor.

And as long as we’re talking about moisture, let’s bust a myth. Just because Grade B beans have less moisture doesn’t mean they are lesser quality. They have less moisture by design; they have been cured for a specific purpose. Think grapes vs raisins. Yes, extract can be made with Grade A beans, but don’t think that the quality of the extract will necessarily be better.

So now you know there is no difference in quality between grades of vanilla. Choose the grade that fits best for the final use.

By the way, here at Vanilla From Tahiti, we sell only Grade A, Tahitian vanilla beans.

Get your Grade A, Prime, Premium, Gourmet Tahitian vanilla beans here.

Get your Grade A
, Prime, Premium, Gourmet Tahitian vanilla extract here.

Bake with love. Bake with Vanilla From Tahiti.