Well Fed Network

Posted by Sandy Smith on Just Baking

Recently, I had the opportunity to sample a vanilla extract product from the Spice House, a self-identified “mom and pop” spice purveyor from the American Midwest. The Spice House celebrated fifty years in business in 2007, and after trying their double-strength Madagascar vanilla extract, it’s easy to see why.

I admit that I don’t always use top-shelf ingredients in my baking. When purchasing ingredients, I try to judge on the merit of the product itself and its intended application. There are some recipes where key ingredients must be of exceptional quality in order for the end product to succeed. There are other recipes where the flavor profile is less exacting, the individual elements less nuanced, so you don’t need to break out the best just because it seems de rigueur.

Let me give you an example. This week, I made two items that both required vanilla extract: cranberry almond granola bars and creme brulee. In the former, the vanilla is just one among many flavors, one layer in a conglomerate of more dominant flavors - cranberries, almonds, honey. For this recipe, I wouldn’t hesitate to use an economical but reputable mass-market brand of pure vanilla extract.

The creme brulee, on the other hand, is another story altogether. In this dessert, the vanilla must be excellent, because it is cast in the starring role. It is the diva! There’s no camouflaging poor flavoring when it’s square in the center of the spotlight, as it is in this classic custard. Therefore, I thought this would be the ideal vehicle in which to test-drive the Spice House’s version of Madagascar vanilla.

Because it is double strength, I used half of what the recipe calls for. It is a testiment to the quality of this product that half was perfectly sufficient. (This, of course, enhances the economy of this product. It’s not quite as costly if the bottle lasts twice as long as the store-shelf stuff.)

Upon first opening the bottle, I was immediately aware of the difference between this product and the run-of-the-mill mass-market products. The scent of this Madagascar vanilla is clean, true, and minus the almost molasses undertones that tend to be present in store-shelf vanilla extracts.

Because creme brulee has so few ingredients and I used no other flavoring agents, the vanilla was paramount on tasting. And from the first silky bite to the last, I was aware of subtleties that I’d never quite credited to vanilla before. Going forward, I’ll never think of vanilla as bland again. This flavor was fully developed and luxurious, as simultaneously simple and sophisticated as the custard that it lent its savor to.

I was sorry to see the last of the creme brulee but consoled by the possibilities the remainder of the bottle presented. And if the other spices in my sample box are even half as delightful as the Madagascar vanilla extract, I can hardly wait to dig in and start exploding my previously held expectations for those old favorites.

Photo of Madagascar Vanilla Extract courtesy of the Spice House.