Sunday, September 27, 2009

Vanilla Sugar: Killing Two Birds with One Stone

Make your life easier and cut down on the list of ingredients for just about any dessert that calls for vanilla extract by making yourself some vanilla sugar.

Take those split, scraped-out pods left over from that gorgeous custard or cake you just whipped up and burry them in a few cups of sugar (one pod for every cup, or there abouts).  Store in an airtight container for a couple of weeks, and voilĂ , vanilla-flavoured sugar.  You can use this sugar in any recipe that calls for sugar and vanilla extract; one tablespoon of vanilla sugar is the equivalent to 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

A no-brainer, and oh, so thrifty!