Vanilla sugar is used in the preparation of various sweets. It is convenient to use, durable, and does not lose its taste when exposed to high temperature and gives baked goods a unique aroma. To save time to the modern housewife You should always have a bag on hand vanilla sugar. Let's find out how it is prepared and what can be replaced vanilla sugar.

The most popular spice

Vanilla sugar is a product that is a mixture of granulated sugar and vanilla powder. Vanilla is considered one of the most sought-after spices and belongs to the category of expensive spices. It turns out that vanilla is a spreading long vine. Vanilla powder is obtained from its fruits. But extracting vanilla is not so easy: exotic plant very difficult to care for. The biggest difficulty in growing a "fragrant" vine is pollinating its flowers. To get vanilla, you need to go to Madagascar, Mexico, Central America, China or Indonesia. This is where this exotic plant grows.

Types of vanillin

Housewives often try to replace vanilla sugar with vanilla. However, in Food Industry, in order to save money, a spicy product is often replaced with a cheaper analogue. It's called vanillin. In terms of aromatic properties, it is practically no different from vanilla. But taste qualities baked goods, to which real vanilla sticks are added, are much higher than those of buns with the addition of vanillin. In addition to the food industry, vanilla is widely used in the production of perfumes, cosmetics and many medicines. Vanillin is used specifically in cooking. It comes in 3 types: powder, liquid, crystalline. The first type - vanilla powder - is used to make vanilla sugar; it is also used in the production of chocolate. Liquid vanillin is widely used in confectionery industry: It is added to sweets. The third type of spicy product is used in baking.

Vanillin in cooking

For cooking bakery products Vanillin or sugar based on it is often used. A packet of vanilla sugar usually contains 2 g of product. It should be remembered that in large quantities the spicy substance imparts bitterness to the dish. 4-9 grams of vanillin are usually added to 1 kg of dough. To improve their taste, add 0.5-2 grams of vanilla sugar to dairy products. Spice is added to dishes and baked goods at the very end of their preparation so that the aroma does not disappear too quickly. Vanilla powder It is used not only to enhance the aroma, but also to soften unwanted flavors in dishes. Vanillin dissolves well in hot water, ether, alcohol, and it gives drinks soft taste and incomparable aroma.

How is vanilla sugar made?

You can easily make vanilla sugar at home. The recipe for its preparation is as follows. You need to take 2 vanilla pods and 1 kg of granulated sugar. It is better to buy long vanilla pods, as they are considered the most valuable. Sugar must be poured into deep container, and cut the vanilla into small pieces. The two ingredients should be thoroughly mixed and covered tightly. The container should be placed in a cool, dark place (maybe in a closet). Sugar needs to “infuse” for at least 3 weeks, after which it can be used as needed.

Vanilla sugar recipe: method No. 2

If you don’t have a bag of vanilla sugar at home and don’t have time to prepare it, you can use its substitutes. So, what can you replace vanilla sugar with? For these purposes, ordinary vanillin is usually used. A pinch of vanillin can replace 2 small spoons of vanilla sugar. But in order not to always look for the answer to the question of what can replace vanilla sugar, it is better to prepare it yourself and use it in the future as needed. In the 1st recipe, sugar and vanilla need to be infused for 3-4 weeks. Next method does not require such time investment.

Need to buy a long pod natural vanilla, a bag of powdered sugar and granulated sugar (1 kg). Remove all the seeds from the vanilla pod and crush them thoroughly. After this, you need to add powdered sugar and mix everything thoroughly. The resulting mixture must be poured into granulated sugar and put a vanilla pod there. The container must be well closed and stored in a dark place for 4 days, after which you can enjoy the aromatic vanilla sugar.

What can replace vanilla sugar?

Baking with the addition of vanillin always turns out fragrant. But often the spicy substance is not at hand. How to replace vanilla sugar? For these purposes, you can use vanilla essence: 12.5 grams replaces 20 grams of vanilla sugar. Unique aroma You can spice up your baked goods by adding 1 small spoon of vanilla extract to the dough. But more often housewives use regular vanillin for cooking. Some people add cinnamon or cardamom instead of vanilla sugar. But in this case, the resulting dish will not delight the owners of the house with its incomparable vanilla aroma.

What are the benefits of vanilla sugar?

Many people say that vanilla sugar is vanillin. But it's not right. Vanilla only forms the basis of sugar and thanks to this it has mass beneficial properties. First of all, vanilla aroma has a calming effect on human body. The spicy smell can help get rid of many diseases. Vanillin helps with insomnia, seizures, allergies, arthritis, fever, hysteria. Vanilla aroma tames anger, reduces anxiety, irritation, and helps to relax. Vanilla stimulates the body and lifts the mood. It is also an antioxidant, antidepressant, helps to activate brain activity and normalize digestive processes. Few people know that vanilla is also an aphrodisiac. From all of the above, it is clear that it not only adds an incomparable aroma to dishes, but also benefits humans. But so that the taste of the prepared food is at its best high level, it is better to use natural vanilla and sugar based on it.

"Vanilla muffins"

This one is delicious fragrant dessert can be prepared in 20 minutes. To prepare it you need to take:

125 gr. butter;
3 eggs;
300 gr. flour;
1.5 small spoons of baking powder;
a pinch of salt;
75 ml milk.

First you need to mix the sugar and butter. It is necessary that the oil be room temperature. Next, add the eggs and mix everything well. Then pour flour, baking powder, vanilla sugar, salt into the mixture and mix it all. Lastly, add the milk. You should get a thick, sticky dough. Prepare baking dishes and place paper baskets there. Fill each basket halfway with dough. Next, add any filling (chocolate, pieces of fruit or berries) and fill it with dough. Vanilla muffins should be baked at 175°C. When the baked goods are browned, they can be removed from the oven. “Vanilla muffins” are elastic, and the filling goes well with the dough. The baked goods are truly aromatic and very tasty. And if you put the Vanilla Muffins in an airtight container and leave them overnight, they will taste even better the next day. Vanilla dessert great for family holiday or a children's party.

In gastronomic literature, as well as in household use, we use words such as vanilla, vanillin and vanilla sugar. You can buy these ingredients for many dishes at any supermarket. Delicious pastries with vanilla takes up entire sections on culinary sites. In this article I will talk about how vanilla differs from vanillin and vanilla sugar.

A few centuries ago, vanilla was considered one of the most expensive spices. Its producers put a stamp on each vanilla pod. Surprisingly, in fresh, these fruits of a tropical vine have no smell at all. These dark brown pods, oily to the touch, are treated with hot steam and dried after picking. After white crystals appear on them, they are packaged and sent for processing. It is rare for one pod to contain more than 3% vanilla.

In the Middle Ages, vanilla was exported to Europe from the New World. The producers of this spice were part of a separate guild of farmers who were highly respected and had good incomes. Even earlier, in what is now Mexico, the local Totonac tribe used vanilla pods as money. If we go back to the Middle Ages, then in addition to the guild of vanilla farmers mentioned above, thieves who specialized in vanilla also traded in this spice. It was to counteract vanilla thieves that farmers began to brand each pod.

In order to use vanilla in cooking, the seeds are removed from the pod and ground in a ceramic mortar. With this rubbing, the room will be filled with a persistent original aroma of vanilla. By adding this ingredient to milk or cream you can prepare vanilla pudding or sauce. There is no need to even grind the pod. It can be removed from the resulting dessert, dried and placed in a jar with sugar. After a while it will turn into vanilla sugar.

Vanilla sugar is great ingredient for baking, decorating fruits and desserts.

What is crystalline vanillin? This is a synthetic analogue of vanilla, which is grains with a spicy smell. Even one pinch is enough to fill the dish pleasant taste and aroma. True, if you overdo it, then instead of the desired effect you can get unnecessary bitterness.

By the way, if you don’t want to wait for vanilla pods to fill the sugar with their aroma, the same can be achieved with vanillin. Simply mix a few pinches of vanillin and sugar.

In what dishes can vanilla be used? Of course, baking comes first here. But, you can also use vanilla when cooking fish. For example, you can bake salmon with vanilla or cook lightly salted fish using this spice.

Vanilla is widely used in aromatherapy. The smell of this spice gives a feeling of comfort and security. In addition, vanilla helps get rid of nervous rashes on the skin and restore its elasticity. If you have lost your appetite, you can get it back with this unique spice. In addition, vanilla is included in many cosmetic products.

Natural vanilla and vanilla sugar

I recently made it, and have already made the ice cream itself. Vanilla is an important component there, of course you can do it without it, but it tastes better with it. The question arose of how natural vanilla differs from synthetic vanilla, what vanilla is in general, and where to get natural vanilla. And today I found the answer and a place where you can buy natural vanilla pods.

In fact, you can buy it here - i-mne.com, 5 pods cost 150 rubles. The description and photo of vanilla are also from there.

Natural vanilla pods are vines dried in a special way.

Natural vanilla gives a very subtle, but very significant difference taste in the product.

“Sometimes it seems to me that adding vanilla to a raw food recipe is like adding pure delight: almost nothing seems to have changed, but the cake becomes like magic! Well, there’s simply an order of magnitude more joy for those who try it. a quarter of a pod and such an effect! It took me a while to figure out this vanilla." Nadezhda Semyonova

What is good about natural vanilla and how is it different from synthetic vanillin? It is one of the most expensive spices in the whole world due to the complex and long process technological process processing and difficulty of cultivation. This prompted the synthesis of vanillin, its artificial substitute. But vanilla is vanilla, and a substitute is a substitute, and it was never possible to completely replicate the subtlety and durability of real vanilla - due to the presence of minor odor components caused by heliotropin and other components of vanilla essential oil.

Vanilla pods contain about 25% sugars, 15% fat, 30% cellulose and 6% minerals. The water content is quite high - 35%.

Among all spices, vanilla, partly because of its price and partly because of its properties, occupies a privileged place. Natural vanilla is used to flavor only the most expensive confectionery and sweet dishes. In particular chocolate and cocoa-containing products, biscuits and products made from biscuit dough filling creams nut cookies. In the recipes of other sweet dishes (compotes, jellies, mousses, soufflés, parfaits, puddings, curd spreads, some types of jams), vanillin is more often used, although some is lost. aromatic properties finished product.

In products subject to heat treatment, vanilla is introduced either immediately before it (in the dough) or immediately after while the dish has not yet cooled (in puddings, soufflés, compotes, jam, etc.). In cold dishes ( curd pastes) after cooking. In products requiring impregnation (sponge cakes), vanilla is introduced in the form vanilla syrup already after baking.

Method of using vanilla - raw food and non-raw food:

To introduce vanilla into non-raw food products, it is usually thoroughly ground with powdered sugar until homogeneous mass. Then the resulting vanilla sugar is mixed into the dough or sprinkled on the finished product.

In raw food dishes (cocktails, candies, cakes, creams, etc.) simply add the grains contained inside the pod. To do this, cut the pod (or part of it) lengthwise with a knife - inside there will be something like jelly made from grains - this is the vanilla itself. If desired, the pod can also be chopped and added, but it contains much less taste and smell.

Consumption rates are low. When calculating per serving, the consumption is approximately 1/20 of a stick. When calculating per kilogram of products put into the dough - 1/4 stick. When making vanilla sugar, one vanilla stick is enough for 1/2 kilogram of sugar. Oddly enough, to obtain vanilla sugar suitable for sprinkling some confectionery products, you just need to store vanilla sticks along with powdered sugar in one jar. The sugar will be saturated with a fairly strong vanilla scent. At proper storage The durability of the vanilla aroma is amazing; they can retain their aroma for up to 5 years!! There are known cases of preservation of all properties after 36 years from the date of production.

Vanilla is also sold in this store:
www.seryogina.ru/shop/
There are 2 types:
Vanilla Bourbon
Vanilla from Reunion Island and Madagascar is characterized by the strongest, balanced and “dark” aroma; Mexican vanilla is softer and fresher in smell.

Vanilla Tahitian
(Vanilla Tahitiensis). These vanillas smell very different from real vanilla. Of course, these two vanillas are not entirely bad and can also be used as spices under their own names. Tahitian vanilla, rarely available, comes from a closely related plant and also has a vanilla aroma, but is more floral, setting it apart from other types. Vanilla from Tahiti owes its aroma to additional components – piperonal and diacetyl.
It is often considered low quality, but it deserves good words as a separate spice.

There are also glass flasks for storing vanilla on sale. :-) Tahitian vanilla and Bourbon Madagascar pod length 15-17.5 cm, organic, packed in a glass flask. The flask costs 20 rubles. :-))

From this store they also wrote:
"Apparently we will also have Mexican vanilla and vanilla powder. :)"
It turns out that there are so many types of vanilla!!

I didn't like the taste of Bourbon vanilla. I will still use the synthetic one, it is much more interesting in terms of aroma. Another thing is that you need to buy it without flavorings...

Distinctive properties of vanillin

They are called crystals that emit a vanilla aroma. They are colorless and have a needle-like structure. It can be either natural or synthetic. Since the process of obtaining vanillin from vanilla pods is very expensive, its cheap, artificially obtained analogue is more often used.

First synthetic vanillin obtained as a result of the synthesis of guaiacol at the end of the 19th century. Later, the substance began to be produced from lignin, by-product pulp and paper production. The second technology makes it possible to obtain a richer bouquet due to the admixture of apocynin, although simple wood or paper is used as the starting material.

A synthetic analogue is considered a flavor identical to the natural one. Its main advantage is its low price, which made it possible to use the spice in the mass production of confectionery and bakery products, as well as in perfumery and tobacco.

The analogue of the spice has a bitter and sharper taste than real vanilla. It is released in the form:

crystals, then the spice represents the maximum possible concentration. In this state, the substance retains its aroma for a very long time, excellently withstanding even heat treatment. Crystals have a pronounced specific taste, so they are added in a strictly defined proportion and only in baked goods;
powder, that is, vanillin mixed with powdered sugar, which can be seen in industrial packaging in any spice department;
, which is obtained by diluting the substance in vodka. In liquid form, the spice is used in perfumery, when impregnating cakes, but subjecting it to heat is strictly prohibited.

Distinctive properties of vanilla sugar

Interestingly, vanilla sugar can be obtained either using an artificial analogue (vanillin) or using natural vanilla pods.

How to make according to traditional recipe:

granulated sugar or powdered sugar placed in glass jar with a tight lid;
one that has undergone the fermentation process is taken, that is, dark brown or even black, which has retained its elasticity, and is completely immersed in sand;
the lid closes tightly;
the jar is placed in a dark place for two weeks;
At the end of this time, the pod is removed.

The energy value of such a product corresponds to energy value simple sugar. After all, in essence, vanilla sugar is simple sugar that has simply absorbed essential oils, secreted by the vanilla pod.

There is another way to obtain this product:

sugar is poured into a glass container with a tight-fitting lid;
the fruits are cut lengthwise and the black grains are removed from them;
the seeds are ground into powder and mixed with sugar;
the skin is finely chopped and added to the mixture;
mix the contents of the jar well;
The mixture should be kept in a dark place for 4-5 days.

This method of preparing spices requires compliance with proportions: take 1 pod for 1 kg of sugar.
In industrial production, another, less expensive method of producing vanilla sugar from vanillin is more popular. Instead of natural vanilla, ethyl vanillin flavoring is added to the mixture.

Vanilla sugar is a mixture of vanillin with granulated sugar or powdered sugar.

So, what is the difference between vanillin and vanilla sugar?
Natural raw materials are used in the production of vanillin. Chemical formula vanillin alone as for the substance natural origin, and for its artificial analogue.

However, the fragrant bouquet of a vanilla pod consists not only of the smell of one single component, vanillin, but of more than 400 different components.

What to choose for yourself: vanillin or vanilla sugar? Both products are quite suitable and safe for home use. Natural vanilla fruits give a feeling of belonging to haute cuisine, although it is rare that any professional taster will be able to distinguish the taste of a dish prepared using natural vanillin from one to which an artificially obtained seasoning has been added.

Vanilla sugar– this is a powdery product white having a strong spicy aroma. Due to the fact that vanilla is expensive, they began to mix it with granulated sugar, as a result of which this culinary product was called vanilla sugar.

Three varieties of vanilla sugar

Crystalline vanilla sugar. It has a natural vanilla aroma. The advantage of such vanillin is that, with any processing, it for a long time holds his useful material and vitamins. It is used as an additive in ice cream, various confectionery baking and other dishes.

Powdered vanillin. It has miniature sizes and a powder consistency. It has a little more extra additives and also has a stronger scent. This powder is added to chocolate. This type of vanillin is sold with different flavors: for example, fruit or berry. Such vanilla sugar melts easily in warm liquid and has a strong aroma at low temperatures.

Liquid vanillin. It is a kind of mixture of alcohol tincture and vanillin. The product is used to create various drinks, bakery and dairy products. It contains a large number of carbohydrates, some calcium, magnesium and copper.

Uses of vanilla sugar

Vanillin is used in the preparation of various liqueurs, in cooking and perfumery. IN culinary field Vanilla sugar must be added strictly according to the recipe in a certain amount. If the amount of added vanillin exceeds the norm, the dish will acquire bitter notes of taste. When baking, vanillin is added, which is highly temperature resistant. It is poured into the dough or placed in the mass during baking, having previously been diluted in fat. The calculated data is as follows: up to ten grams of vanillin are added per kilogram of dough. When making chocolate, it is usually necessary to add crystalline vanillin or powdered vanilla sugar. Liquid vanillin is mixed into dairy products, and very rarely powdered vanillin. Here, up to two grams of vanilla sugar are used per liter of product.

Effect of vanillin

Has good solubility in liquids, such as alcohol, warm water and its other types;
Used to improve smell and taste;
The aroma lasts on the skin and hair for a long time;
Used as a home fragrance.

Benefit

Has a calming effect due to its aroma;
Helps well against insomnia, has a relaxing effect;
Vanilla is considered an antioxidant and anti-carcinogen.

Harm

Excessive consumption damages the walls blood vessels, worsens their condition.

Cooking at home

Making your own vanilla sugar is quite easy. It will take one kilogram granulated sugar, a bag of powdered sugar and a real vanilla bean. The longer the pod, the healthier and more valuable it is considered. The pod is cut into thin strips, the seeds are extracted, and then these strips are pounded to a pulpy state, eventually adding powdered sugar. Next, all the components are mixed well and poured into a jar along with sand, and a whole pod is placed on top. The product must be infused for at least five days, under a tightly closed lid in a dark place. The seeds do not need to be thrown away; they can be added to face cream. The calorie content of this product is 394 kcal.

Vanilla Pie Recipe

Very tasty pie with vanilla and lemon cream. To prepare it you will need: dough, wheat flour (two cups), baking powder (one teaspoon), eggs (three pieces), sugar (half a cup), butter (to grease the pan), vanillin.

For butter cream: butter (about fifty grams), powdered sugar (one sachet), vanilla extract (a few drops).

For lemon cream: lemon (one piece), egg (one piece), sugar (about fifty grams), butter (one small spoon).