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Homemade Bourbon Vanilla

Source of Recipe

From "Essentials of Southern Cooking" by Damon Lee Fowler


Recipe Introduction

"Making your own vanilla extract may seem a little extreme, particularly since good-quality extracts are available to us, and commercial extracts can certainly be used in any recipe in this book. Once you taste the rich depth of flavor that bourbon lends to vanilla and understand the distinctive difference that so simple a preparation can make, you're sure to think the small effort required is well worth it. If you bake often, you can make this in larger batches: Just allow 1 vanilla bean for every ¼ cup of whiskey."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 4 whole imported vanilla beans
â—¦ 1 cup bourbon


Recipe

Split the vanilla beans in half lengthwise, then cut each half into quarters. Put the beans into a clean jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid. Add the bourbon, tightly put on the lid, and give the jar a good shake.

Put it in a cool, dark cupboard that you use frequently. At least once a day for 2 weeks, give the jar a gentle shake. After 2 weeks, you no longer need to agitate the jar. Keep it in a cool place away from direct light.

Every time you use the vanilla, replace what you take out with an equal amount of bourbon. It will replenish itself for at least a year or two before the fragrance and flavor begin to fade. I've kept one batch going for as long as 5 years. When the flavor begins to fade, stop replenishing and use up the extract. Then start a new batch with fresh beans, or strain the old extract, measure it, and use it as a base for your next batch.


Makes 1 cup