Suggested uses

Basic prep

Storage & handling

Store in a dry, cool place.

Ingredients

Sugar, vanilla

Vanilla Sugar is fine sugar that is flavored with vanilla bean powder, made from all-natural vanilla beans, the soft, resinous, richly flavorful black seed pods of the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia). This climbing orchid has its origins in Mexico and the tropical rainforests of Central America, and was brought to parts of Asia and the Pacific Islands via Spanish trade routes.

Vanilla became very popular in Europe after Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez brought it back from the Americas. It was initially very expensive due to scarcity, but as the hand pollination technique discovered on the island of Réunion was adopted, vanilla beans grew less scarce and relatively more accessible. In any case, today vanilla remains the second most expensive spice in the world, after saffron.

Vanilla beans are an indispensable, all-natural flavoring agent, used primarily in baking and pastry applications to impart pure vanilla flavor and aroma to cakes, custards, sauces and more.

Vanilla beans are green when harvested, and become black due to the lengthy fermentation process. However, they remain soft and flexible, and the seeds inside the pods are covered in a slightly sticky, resinous substance. To extract the seeds, the pods must first be split open and then scraped. Vanilla has been used for various medicinal and aromatherapeutic purposes, from treating intestinal gas and fever to promoting relaxation and increasing sexual desire. In Indian ayurvedic medicine, vanilla is thought to help alleviate toothache. Vanilla is also often used as a flavoring in syrups used for making medications.