Vanilla Extract or Booze?

My wife and I like to do a good amount of baking and tend to use a fair amount of vanilla extract (cheesecake). So in talking with a friend of mine and doing some research on te net I decided to make my own extract. While I haven’t tried the extract to see how it compares to store bought so far it smells stronger. It should be ready in about another week. Here’s how I made mine and how you can make some too if you feel so inclined:

Needed: a 1 liter bottle of vodka
3-10 vanilla beans preferrably Madagascan More beans=stronger flavor.
a kitchen scissors

I buy my beans at Penzeys Spice.
What's needed

Cut the vanilla beans in half lengthwise.

Cut the beans.

Place the beans into the bottle of vodka, screw the cap back on and shake vigorously.

Put beans in the bottle.

Let the bottle stand for two weeks or longer. Shake the bottle a couple times each day for the two weeks. The longer you let it sit the better vanilla flavor it will have.

Let the bottle sit.

After it has reached the level of vanilla flavor which you like you can decant it into smaller bottles and store or use it.

Well, it has reached the two week point and I have already used my home made extract in 3 cheesecakes over the weekend. Upon opening the bottle I immediately notice the intense aroma of vanilla and it tastes as good as it smells. Here is the final product, notice I added three more beans so it is a little darker and stronger. There is really no reason why you can’t just leave the beans in the bottle.

mmmmm. vanilla.

8/24/06
Here is the a picture of the vanilla extract since I first made it. Very strong, delicious and a nice color.