How to Revive and Use Dried Vanilla Beans

Let’s talk about Vanilla Beans.  Do you use whole vanilla beans in your recipes?  I personally love and adore vanilla beans.  They have this unique, sweet, floral, and earthy (depending on the regions) aromas that you don’t get from any other ingredient.  They certainly make any baked goods and desserts tasted gourmet.  Ever since the shortage of vanilla beans a few year ago, the price of them had been sky-rocketed.  (That is totally a different topic so I’m not going to go in-depth today).

My point is, since vanilla beans are so expensive, you do want to utilize them the best you could so that nothing goes to waste.  If you live in an area that has a dry climate (such as Southern California), you might have experienced that your vanilla bean dried out before you use it.  No need to panic!  I’m here for the rescue today.  Watch my video below on how to revive a dried vanilla bean and many different ways you can use them. 



If you’ve missed my previous video, click below to watch the tutorial on how to split and seed a vanilla bean and other usage ideas.




If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave me a comment below.  

For more product information and vanilla recipes, please visit www://SingingDogVanilla.com



Vanilla Simple Syrup

Ingredients:
1 vanilla bean
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

1) Place all ingredient in a medium pot.  Let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes, stir occasionally.  Let cool completely before use.

2) The simple syrup is wonderful to mix into teas, cocktails, and fruit punches.

Vanilla Spice Poached Pears

Ingredients:
2 Semi-Ripe Pears, peeled
3 Cups water
1 cup Sugar
1 lemon, peel off rind and juiced
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 star anise
1 vanilla bean

1) Place all ingredient, except the pears, in a medium pot. Heat mixture over high heat until it comes to a boil.

2) Lower the heat to a simmer and add in the pears.  Simmer for 20 minutes or until fork tender.

3) Let pears cool slightly and enjoy them warm or at room temperature!  Accompany poached pears with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dark chocolate sauce, or fresh berries.

Vanilla Lavender Bath Salt

Ingredients:

1 cup of lavender Epsom Salt
1/2 cup sea salt
1 tablespoon dried lavender buds
A few drops of purple soap colorant (Optional)
1 dried vanilla bean, break into thirds

Stir all ingredients together until well incorporated.  Transfer to an air tight container until ready to use (preferably after a week to let the vanilla bean infused into the bath salt). 

To Use:
Scoop 1/2 a cup of the bath salt mixture and add into a tub of bath water.  Soak, relax, and enjoy!  















Thank you Singing Dog Vanilla for sponsoring these videos.

Classic Bundt Cake--From Scratch

Did you have a chance to check out the Frosted Cranberries recipe and video tutorial from last week?  If not, simply click here to check it out.  Those cranberries make the most festive and gorgeous garnish on top of this Classic Bundy Cake?  Don't you agree?



It’s amazing how a few little edible gems and some fresh mint leaves can turn this simple cake into your best holiday dessert!  It’s gorgeous enough for the celebration, yet simple enough for everyday enjoyment.  Best of all, this cake can feed a village!  And yes, I make this cake quite often.  




This Classic Bundt Cake is wonderful when it’s freshly out of the oven.  You get the slightly crispy edges along with moist and tender interior.  But as I said, it’s a huge cake, and a small family like mine definitely won’t finish it all in a day, no matter how much we love cake!   The great news is, this cake freezes really well.   I usually let it completely cool to room temperature.  Slice the whole cake into desire thickness (usually around 1 1/2-inch).  Then, lay the slices flat into a tightly sealed freezer safe ziploc bag, and into the freezer they go.



 When I’m ready to serve them again, I take the desire number of slices I want.  Then, they go straight onto a non-stick saute pan.  You don’t need to grease the pan nor defrost the cake ahead of time.  Put on low heat and warm up the cake on both sides until the edges turn slightly golden brown and crispy.  You’ll get a nice crispy outer crust and super tender interior!  I say, they’re even better than the day it came fresh out of the oven!  Give this method a try and I’m sure you’ll love it too!



Last but not least, I want to wish you all a Blessed and wonderful Christmas!  It’s a wonderful time for most people, but please also remember that it could be hard for many out there who miss their loved ones.  Life is full of unexpected events.  So, cherish what you have and the people around you.   Give them an extra kiss, a tighter hug, and don’t forget to tell them that you love them!   
I’ll be back next week before the new year and share a fun appetizer/snack with you in case you’re throwing a party to ring-in the New Year!   Stay tuned!







Tools and ingredients used:

Classic 10-inch Bundt Cake Pan (click here for more information)
Mikasa Something Borrowed Desert Plates (Click here for more information)
10-Inch Ribbon Cake Stand (Click her for more information)
Calphalon Nonstick 2-Piece Baking Sheet Set (Click her for more information)
KitchenAid Stand Mixer (Click here for more information)
Cake/Pie Server (Click here for more information)
Small Forks for Dessert (See similar product here)
Kerrygold Pure Unsalted Butter (Click here for more information)
Cooling Rack (Click here for more information)

Frosted Cranberries (Candied Cranberries)

Are you ready for the holidays?  I can’t wait to spend some time with my family and friends.  We all need some time off, I guess.  Today, I wanted to share this easy recipe with you that will make your holiday treats a lot more festive! Say hello to these Frosted Cranberries!  They are gorgeous, festive, edible jewels, in my opinion.  Best of all, they are quite easy to make.  Be sure to check out my YouTube video above for the step-by-step instructions.   

These Frosted Cranberries are made with the fresh ones, not frozen.  If you’ve tried a fresh cranberry without anything else, you know they taste super sour.  That’s why you usually see them dried or turned into sauces.  For the same reason, these frosted edible jewels are perfect with the sugar coating!  The sweet and tart taste balance each other out really well.  I used some vanilla sugar in the soaking syrup (click here to see the vanilla sugar recipe).  Or, you can simply use regular sugar.

So besides eating these candied cranberries as is, you can also use them as a festive holiday garnish for your cakes and treats. 

They turn a regular bundt cake into a festive holiday centerpieces!  The Frosted Cranberries are also great in punches and cocktails!  I’ll post the Classic Bundt Cake (picture above) recipe on my next post.  So please stay tuned!

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you enjoy the post and the recipe.  Until next time, please take care and stay warm!

Vanilla Coffee Granita and Giveaway Reminder

I hope you all had a wonderful week, my friends. Did any of you tried my Grilled Ribeye Steaks with Vanilla Coffee Rub recipe?  Not yet?  I sure hope you’ll give that a try soon because the Vanilla Coffee Rub really embarks wonderful depth of flavors into your steaks and enhances the texture of your steaks by creating a lovely crust to seal in the juices.  The rub is super easy to put together with a rather short ingredients list.  Anyhow, don’t forget to enter the Singing Dog Vanilla Lover’s Set Giveaway (2 winners), if you haven’t done so.  The giveaway is available to my Readers worldwide, click here to enter.



Now, back to this Vanilla Coffee Granita.  As I promised you from the last post that I will share a dessert recipe using the Vanilla Coffee and Vanilla Salt.  This is one cool treat that could tame any flames and heats!  Boy, I don’t know what’s up with the weather here in the past 2 weeks, but it’s been super hot all week in L.A.  I can probably use a cool treat any time of the day.  This is a light and refreshing treat, a perfect sweet ending to any meal (more so if you made my Grilled Ribeye Steak recipe).  If you haven’t try a granita before, it’s a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings.  This time, I used vanilla coffee.  It’s ridiculously easy to prepare and let me show you how.



First, brew your coffee in your coffee maker, or French press.  While the coffee is still hot, add the sugar and salt. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the coffee liqueur and stir well. Pour the mixture into a freezer safe 9 x 13 container. Leave at room temperature until completely cooled.



Cover the container and freeze for an hour. Remove from freezer and with a fork, scrape the ice crystals that have formed on the side of the pan. Return to the freezer and scrape every 30 minutes.



Once the mixture is completely frozen (the whole process might take 2-4 hours), fluff with a fork and scoop the granita onto your favorite cup, dollop with some freshly whipped cream (recipe followed) and a sprinkle of vanilla salt on top.



The hardest part about this recipe?  Waiting!  Waiting for the granita to freeze up before you can take a bite! But it’s all worth it at the end.  It’s like having a sweet and creamy iced coffee in frozen form.  But the icy granita has a nice crunchy texture that is really refreshing on the palates. 



When you mix a little freshly whipped cream with the granita along with the crunch from the vanilla salt, that’s one perfect bite for me!  It’s definitely a party in my mouth that wakes up all my senses.  You would want to close your eyes and savor each spoonful slowly.  But then, you would also want to finish it quickly before it’s all melted.  These mini martini serving glasses are perfect for the job.  They are must-haves for parties and entertaining too.  (Please click here for product link).  I love the mini size because I won’t feel as guilty if I indulge more than one!  I hope you enjoy today’s recipe.  Have fun brewing, and freezing!  

Classic Crème Brûlée

Crème brûlée, also known as burnt cream, is a dessert consisting of a creamy custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard and crunchy caramel (the burnt sugar). The custard base is traditionally flavored with vanilla, but is also sometimes flavored with lemon, chocolate, coffee, liqueurs, etc. I’ve made many different variations of this dessert but I always goes back to the classic. I’m sure you all know how much I love chocolate, but then, this is one of those desserts that the original really beats the chocolate, hands down!



It is not a surprise to most you who follow my blog that I make French Macarons all the time.  Such as these, the Valentine’s version, or my all time favorites ones, just to name a few.  As French macarons only require egg whites in the recipe, I always have some “left over” yolks in my fridge.  The best way to use up the yolks would be to make ice cream and... this Classic Crème Brûlée!  The other day, my Baby Girl asked me for a dessert after dinner.  But she doesn’t know the name of this dessert.  She described it as a little cup with a crunchy topping and a soft and creamy interior.  My little foodie is right to the point on the texture!  Of course, her Mama knew exactly what she was talking about.



The vanilla flavor in this Classic Crème Brûlée is wonderful and really comes through.  The rich and creamy custard is perfectly contrast with the crunchy burnt sugar on top.  I added a small amount of chocolate liqueurs in the custard base.  You can’t really taste the liqueurs as most of the alcohol evaporated during the baking process.  But it does enhance the overall flavor and I highly recommend it.  



Since I don’t like desserts that are overly sweet, I only use 3/4 teaspoon of sugar on top of each ramekin to make the Brûlée.  If you like a thicker crust of burnt sugar on top, by all means use a little more sugar in each cup.



To make the Brûlée, sprinkle the sugar on top, I used vanilla sugar; pick up the ramekin and tap the side to evenly distribute the sugar until the sugar has fully covered the surface of the custard.  I used a kitchen torch for the Brûlée.  You can also place the ramekins under the boiler for a couple of minutes, or until the top is golden brown.



Wait for a couple of minutes until the sugar is cooled. 



This is my favorite part….cracking the Brûlée on top with a spoon. Yup, you can totally hear the cracks.



Here’s one perfect bite.  Now, you can head to the kitchen and make a batch instead of just drooling over here. 

Palmiers 2 ways—Italian Savory Palmiers & Vanilla Sugar Palmiers

Palmiers are one of my all time favorite cookies.  Some people call them elephant ears, palm leaves, or French Hearts.  Back in Hong Kong, we called them butterfly cookies.  And these butterflies always fly their way straight into my tummy.  No matter what you call them, they are definitely decadent treats.




You can find sweet palmiers at many bakeries or even packaged ones from supermarkets in the cookies isle.  However, if you’ve never tasted a fresh palmier from the oven, I highly recommend you to make some.  Not only they are easy to make, they are WAY better than the packaged ones from the grocery.  The ingredients are super simple as well.  There are only 3 ingredients for the sweet palmiers.  Thanks for the convenience of store bought puff pastry, all you need are vanilla sugar and salt to make this treat.  They are elegant for parties, and simple to make on any afternoon if you want a quick pick me up treat. 

Click here for the post to read about how to make your own vanilla sugar at home.  Otherwise, they are just one click away if you prefer to order them online.




Onto the Italian Savory Palmier.  These are definitely wonderful appetizers and perfect for any parties or gatherings.  You can fill the dough ahead of time and keep it chilled in the refrigerator.  Then, simply cut out individual cookies and bake them right before your party.  They are unique and packed with tons of flavors.  Crispy and buttery puff pastry, filled with the classic Italian flare of pesto, sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese.  The pine nuts add a crunchy texture and wonderful nutty flavor. Since a package of puff pastry comes with two sheets, you can (and should) definitely try both recipes out.  

Thank you for stopping by today, I hope you’ll enjoy today’s recipes. 







P.S.:  I think these cookies are in perfect shapes for Valentine's Day too!