Vanilla Sugar - Help!

[Mr. Bloom]

OK, we have a Slovakian Exchange Student moving in with us on Monday and I want to cook his favorite muffins.

I need Vanilla Sugar...which I can't find at local stores here in podunkville...

So, I understand from wiki that I can make it quickly with vanilla extract:

It can be costly and difficult to obtain outside Europe but can be simply made at home. Sometimes it can be replaced with vanilla extract, where one teaspoon equals one package. However, when it is needed as a topping, vanilla extract is unsuitable.

OK, this is helpful...but one teaspoon equals "one package" of what size?????

Help! Ideas?

I need five ounces of vanilla sugar or else it will make me two weeks to derive it from vanilla beans.

PS: I know this belongs in Nutrition (Sugar/Nutrition - hmmm now that's a contradiction)...but I'm in a rush

[buddha_bellies]

Maybe they mean those packets you get at restaurants? I guess that's one teaspoon?

When do you need the sugar? If you don't need it in a hurry, you can just buy a vanilla bean or two and stick it in a 1 litre jar of sugar. It takes about a couple of weeks for the aroma to be infused with the sugar.

Good luck!

[papaver]

you can make it yourself.

Just take a container, put white sugar in it together with a vanilla pod... that's it. It keeps for ages... and you can use it after a day or two... You can even blend it if you want it to go faster.

[Mr. Bloom]

Wiki indicated that it would take two weeks to make myself...have you done it quicker yourself?

[Blueberry]

I don't know if this would work and have not tried it but....

I wonder if you could scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean, and put them in the food processor with the sugar. I think that's about as close as you will get for "instant" vanilla sugar...

CA

[papaver]

I don't know if this would work and have not tried it but....

I wonder if you could scrape the seeds out of a vanilla bean, and put them in the food processor with the sugar. I think that's about as close as you will get for "instant" vanilla sugar...

CA

Jamie Oliver doesn't even bother to take the seeds out, he blends the whole bean. Works a charm.

And yes Mr Silver, you can use it instantly

[Selkie]

Lots of Slovaks in my hometown (Pittsburgh)! The Best food!!!

If it isn't a secret family recipe, could you please post it?

[Mr. Bloom]

I will later (after I get it transferred from my iPhone.)

His sister was very helpful () converting from metric to imperial...as a result, I'm trying to get 5.06 oz of this and 7.12 oz of that and then baking at 356 degrees F

So, first I'll have to convert back to metric since I'm certain that I don't have the tolerance to measure to the 1/100th of an oz!

Now, the next challenge...I've NEVER EVER laid eyes on a vanilla bean before...the kid's not even here and I'm already expanding my horizons!

[OakLeaf]

http://www.convert-me.com/en/

Lots of handy stuff there, including a whole section of cooking conversions, which is really handy since European recipes tend to measure dry ingredients by weight (so much more accurate)! The site tells you how many cups of sugar are in 200g (a scant one cup), etc.

[sfa]

I just checked with my sister (who hates it that you can't get vanilla extract at a decent price in Europe) and she said that the packages of vanilla sugar are about the size of a package of baking soda, so presumably one teaspoon of vanilla extract for about that amount of sugar would do it.

Here you go: http://www.cadelyn.com/cuisine/recip...lla_sugar.html

Sarah

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, I just got back from the organic grocery and now know what a vanilla bean looks like. Wow, silly me, I thought they were round like coffee beans (but then I was 21 before I know shrimp had heads)

That conversion program was handy! But I fear I've really screwed something up. I had to convert from oz to gallons using that site and then convert from factional gallons (dry or liquid) to get to table/tea spoons! If this works, it will be a miracle!

Lemon muffins:
6.2oz butter melted = .85 cup butter melted
5.3oz icing sugar = 12.8 tablespoon icing sugar
0.4oz vanilla sugar = 2.4 teaspoon vanilla sugar
4 eggs = 4 eggs
1 lemon (juice)
11.5oz flour = 1.67 cups flour
0.4oz baking powder = 2.75 teaspoons
5tbs milk
- mix all together, put into forms.
Muffin forms: use butter or spray oil on them.
BAKE: preheat oven and bake at 356' (Fahrenheit), 25-30minutes.
let cool, then ICING: 10tbs icing sugar +1 lemon (juice)

I guess that tonight we'll know!

[OakLeaf]

Just make sure you're not confounding fluid ounces with ounces avoirdupois...

[Mr. Bloom]

Just make sure you're not confounding fluid ounces with ounces avoirdupois...

what is that? how would i know?

[OakLeaf]

Ah.

If someone else has converted metric weights for you, then the result is still going to be weight. 16 oz avdp = 1 lb.

If someone has converted metric volumes for you, then the result is still going to be volume. 8 fl oz = 1 c

It works out same-same for water (just as 1 ml water = 1 g), but for most ingredients it's a very important difference!!!

Dry ingredients are never measured in fluid ounces - if you have a recipe that actually calls for ounces of flour or sugar, then they mean ounces avoirdupois. If someone's converted a European recipe, flour and sugar are probably measured by weight, so they've converted from grams to ounces avoirdupois.

But I'd do the conversion from scratch, using convert-me, because it seems like you're playing "telephone" with your recipe... Did you see the pull-down menu to pick your particular substance, and the fact that there are two different spaces to enter fluid ounces vs. ounces avoirdupois?

Five ounces (avoirdupois) of granulated sugar (probably weighing as close as nevermind to vanilla sugar) is 3/4 cup. Et cetera.



ETA: I love that site. It's fun just to browse. And handy even when you're not switching from metric to Imperial - like, a recipe calls for 1 c chopped onions, well, what I have is whole onions that I can weigh - if I pick the one that's 1/3 lb I'm spot-on. (Or maybe I should pick the onion that weighs a little over 1/3 lb, since I'll be tossing the stem and root ends into the stock pot. )

[Mr. Bloom]

Well, i just found an imperial recipe on the 'net using virtually similar ingredients!

The Stress! The Stress! I can't take it anymore!

I feel like Papa from Breaking Away:
Papa: What is this?
Mama: It's sauteed zucchini.
Papa: It's I-tey food. I don't want no I-tey food.
Mama: It's not. I got it at the A&P. It's like... squash.
Papa: I know I-tey food when I hear it! It's all them "eenie" foods... zucchini... and linguini... and fettuccine. I want some American food, darnit! I want French fries!