Honey infused with a quality vanilla pod is as good as you might imagine. Sweet honey flavor with mellow overtones of vanilla and marshmallow. The specks floating in suspension are something that looks odd at first, but if you know true vanilla, you know that this will be a sign of some amazing flavor to come.
Infusing honey with vanilla is not a complicated thing to do by any means, but it does require just a touch of consideration to get it right. Take a moment to review the details before committing to assembly.
1 large fresh vanilla bean, dried per the instructions
1 pound wildflower honey
The purpose of drying the bean out is to relieve it of some of the moisture it is holding. If it were to be placed in the honey, the osmotic process of the honey penetrating the bean would push the water out of the vanilla and the excess moisture would create an environment for yeasts to ferment.
One vanilla bean does not hold a lot of moisture, but if the bean is very fresh, it could have enough to make an impact.
Most bottled honey, straight from the hive, is at a low enough moisture level that any excess moisture driven from the vanilla bean would not cause a concern. If however you wanted to be doubly sure, you could measure it with a refractometer.
Most bottled honey is under 18% moisture, and closer to 17%. If you find that your honey happens to be on the higher end of the scale, you can put it in a pot on the stove and heat it at low heat to drive some of the moisture out.
Can you infuse honey with a prepared vanilla extract? Yes…. It does require a different assembly and yields a different product, but you can achieve a vanilla infused honey quickly using this alternative method.
The key to assembly is to cook out the alcohol while combining the extract in the honey.
1 tablespoon prepared vanilla extract, or to taste
1 pound wildflower honey
*Most extracts are prepared with alcohol and if you consumed them directly, without heating them in the manner above, you would likely get quite a hit of alcohol taste. Stirring them into the honey at temperature cooks off some of the alcohol.
Vanilla extracts are made with different formulas and the alcohol strength and flavors vary. Experiment with this until you end up with a product that tastes good to you – or use a vanilla bean as outlined in the recipe above.
POSTED APR 21, 2024LENGTH 1:12:00 EPISODE LINK – CLICK / TAP TO LISTEN Episode #248…
POSTED APR 14, 2024LENGTH 1:03:00 EPISODE LINK – CLICK / TAP TO LISTEN Episode #247…
Thin and crispy Chinese restaurant-style honey garlic pork chops. The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons…
This presentation is one of the lessons created for the Managed Mentoring Program. As a…
POSTED APR 07, 2024LENGTH 1:11:00 EPISODE LINK – CLICK / TAP TO LISTEN Episode #246…
POSTED MAR 31, 2024LENGTH 1:34:00 EPISODE LINK – CLICK / TAP TO LISTEN Episode #245…