Powdered Vanilla

Appears to be available from the Vermont County Store.

Van-O-Van Powdered vanilla! This synthetic vanilla product enables you to flavor candies and icings with absolutely no danger of thinning out. Its pure white color is preferred by bakers everywhere because it does not discolor white icings. About twice as strong as average household vanilla. Van-O-Van has a shelf-life of about 1 year. May turn brown if left uncovered.

Ugh.

You know that dry synthetic vanillin costs about $100/ton wholesale at the factory, right? The biggest cost is shipping & packaging.

Gosh, I did not know that.

The biggest cost is shipping & packaging.

OK. Look, I was just providing information for the OP. :-)

On the other hand, in a recent test of vanillas, Cooks Illustrated had the same thing happen that happened in the previous test. The synthetic vanilla products were preferred to the natural ones.

I resisted using synthetics for a long time, but in a number of blind taste tests, I couldn't tell the difference. My pocketbook could, however.

There are good and bad natural and synthetic vanillas... it depends on what else is in there. So, try a few and see.

Mike

What the heck is a vanilla stick, and in what sense is it 'real'?

I assume he meant a vanilla bean. The real McCoy. Gooomba

Oh, my goodness. I'm flashing back to college philosophy classes. "What is the meaning of the bean?"

Priscilla

Sometimes it's just a bean.

How do you use vanilla beans? Seriously?

If I have a recipe that calls for a 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and I have the real thing, how do I substitute for the extract? And in what amounts?

Shirley Hicks Toronto, Ontario