Vanilla Sugar

After sending J off at the bus terminal (he was leaving to KL after the ice-cream making workshop), I headed to Phoon Huat to get some plump and pulpy vanilla pod. I am going to visit my uncle and aunt who had just came back from the US for a short stay and thought that a jar of home made vanilla sugar could be a very decent and earnest gift for them.


The first time I got to know the existence of vanilla sugar was through Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef show which was showing at Discovery Travel and Living channel about 4 years ago. It was very impressive when Jamie said he had always sent a big jar to his mother on her birthdays. I think it's really a great gift especially for people who enjoys tea and coffee. It acts just like the vanilla syrup that is used in caramel macchiato which you order from the menu at Starbucks. When your coffee can now taste so much better, it too looks so much cooler when you bring your friends over for a cup of coffee and indulge them with this deluxe sugar.

the small dots are the seeds from the vanilla pods

Vanilla Sugar

adapted from Jamie Oliver

Ingredients:
1 vanilla pod
1 cup of superfine sugar (I had used 5 vanilla pods for 1 kg of sugar;try to get the finest sugar you can get but not icing sugar)

Methods:
1. Cut the vanilla pods into quarters and place in a food processor (I had used a blender instead) and process. Scrap the side and process again.
2. Mix the sugar in and process for about 2 minutes. Sieve the mixture into a bowl and return the big lumps into the food processor and blend again. Repeat the process until you get the most out of the pods.
3. Keep the vanilla sugar in an air-tight container and use it for your coffee, tea, dessert and anything you like.

I had infused an extra whole vanilla pod in the jar to further intensify the aroma and taste and perhaps as decorative purposes too.

When J is back from KL, we will make our jar of vanilla sugar together. :)

And I guess I will use the remaining pods to make custard for eclairs that I always wanted to make. Stay tuned.


P/S: You can get vanilla pods at Cooking Island for those who are staying in Penang.