Many of my recipes call for either Vanilla Bean Paste, pure vanilla extract, or fresh whole vanilla beans.

Vanilla just takes your dreamy frosting or custards to a whole new level, this one area is where I don’t want to skimp on quality.

I most often use Vanilla Bean paste it is a more cost-effective way to add vanilla flavor to baked goods and frostings, with an intense flavor of extract plus it has tons of vanilla caviar flecks inside the bottle, without you having to scrape the vanilla bean out of a fresh vanilla bean.

Below I have explained some more how you can substitute Vanilla bean paste if you can’t find it at your local store.

 

Vanilla Bean Paste

This rich concentrated vanilla bean paste adds rich flavor plus gorgeous flecks of real vanilla seeds in your frostings, ice creams and so much more.

Vanilla Bean paste is made from inverted sugar, water, vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds scraped out from fresh vanilla beans, it is a great alternative to fresh vanilla beans.

In any recipe that calls for fresh vanilla beans, you can swap in 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste per fresh vanilla bean.

There are many brands out there, I personly only uses only →   Natural Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla bean paste from the brand LorAnn Oils 

It is just the best, you can find it on Amazon or at specialty baking stores!

Pure Vanilla Extract

Pure Vanilla Extract is made by steeping vanilla beans in alcohol for many months resulting in a pure, rich vanilla extract.

In any recipe that calls for fresh vanilla beans, you can swap in 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract per fresh vanilla bean.

In any recipe that calls for 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste you can swap in 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract instead.

 I don’t recommend using artificial vanilla, as the taste is, well artificial.

Whole Fresh Vanilla beans

Whole Fresh Vanilla beans I tend to use whole beans in my recipes for custards, it takes your custards to a whole new level.

Though expensive, fresh vanilla beans are the best vanilla you can get.

Look for fresh vanilla beans that are glossy, a bit oily, dark in color, and supple enough to be wrapped around your finger, without breaking.

When you slice open a vanilla bean inside you have those beautiful black vanilla flecks, that make your custards so dreamy.

To use a vanilla bean: use a sharp knife to split the bean lengthwise and then scrape the seeds out of the bean with the dull side of the knife or a spoon. Use the seeds in the recipe as called for. The leftover pod can be dried and then finely ground in a food processor to make a vanilla bean powder.

Homemade Vanilla Sugar

Homemade Vanilla Sugar is a great substitute if you can’t find any of the other alternatives mentioned above.

When you split a fresh vanilla bean and scrape out the vanilla seeds you are left with a vanilla pod, it is the vanilla pod that carries most of the creamy flavor and fragrance perfect for making homemade vanilla sugar.

fill an empty container with white sugar or superfine sugar and bury the vanilla pod in the sugar, close the container and check back in a few days.

The vanilla pod will perfume the sugar, and you will be left with delicious vanilla sugar that you can use in baking recipes.

The vanilla pod keeps indefinitely in the sugar, just keep adding more vanilla pods and refill the container with sugar regular and you will always have the best homemade vanilla sugar at home.