Vanilla Paste - Your Baking Needs Ingredient

1. Vanilla Paste - Your Baking Needs Ingredient When it comes to baking, one ubiquitous ingredient that is used worldwide is vanilla. It is used in the form of either vanilla extract or vanilla paste. But why is vanilla so important to baking? It can’t be said that it was always important in Western cuisine because this second-costly spice was introduced in Europe only after the discovery of the New World. Then how did vanilla become so important to baking? Read this article and know.

2. The history of Vanilla in Western cooking The rich history of vanilla goes back thousands of years in the area which is now central Mexico. There the Totonac people cultivated this beautiful orchid and used the pods as medicinal and fruit plants. When they were conquered by the Aztecs in the 15th century, vanilla beans were offered as part of the tribute they had to pay to them. The Aztecs mixed it with another Mesoamerican native cacao to make a drink called “xocolatl”. When Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortez met the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, he was offered vanilla as part of his “gift” which he then brought back to Europe. At first, the orchid was grown as a flower in the botanical gardens of France, England and other places but it never grew fruit. In 1836 Belgian horticulturist Charles Morren suggested that the fruit was not being produced because the chief pollinator was a bee native to only Mexico. Hence growers tried hand pollinating the flowers, which found success in the French colony of Reunion near Madagascar by a slave boy called Edmond Albius. Even today, vanilla is grown through hand pollination and even the process of drying the fruit and turning them into products like extract or vanilla bean paste is done by hand. This is why the spice is so costly. Coming to its use in cooking, at first the rich and nobles of Europe used it like the Aztecs, with chocolate. It was a drink that was restricted only to the aristocratic class of Europe. In 1602, the royal pharmacist for England Queen Elizabeth I, Hugh Morgan, thought of using the spice on its own and not just with chocolate. Since then, vanilla has become the most important ingredient in baking. It reached back to the American continent with the growing love for ice cream in the USA. Thomas Jefferson is credited with bringing back vanilla pods from France in 1789 and by the 19th century, it was the most preferred flavour in ice cream. Why is vanilla paste so important in baking Now that you know the history of the use of vanilla, let’s see how the paste or extract enhances the baked products it is used in. The most important role is to enhance the flavour of the baked goods, which otherwise could have a bland taste. It does that by enhancing the sweetness of the baked goods and compliments the

3. taste of sugar and eggs, the other two major ingredients in baked goods. Sometimes, you may not taste the vanilla in a product, for example, in a chocolate cake, but the presence of the vanilla elevates the flavour of the cake. Is vanilla bean paste better than other vanilla products? The answer lies in what you are making. In certain baking dishes, it is best to use vanilla in paste form while in others, it is best to use the extract or even essence. The paste is best when you are making a dish where vanilla will be the star of the show, like crème brûlée, French vanilla ice cream, and so on. It is also added to dishes in place of vanilla bean seeds. But if you are making a baking dish that will just enhance the flavour, then vanilla extract or even artificial vanilla essence can do the job. To explore more visit: www.neugininaturals.com.au