I've had this brilliant idea since the beginning of September, but leave it to me to wait until the last minute to actually finish it off and post about it! EEP! This is quite possibly the easiest and most brilliant neighbor gift you can give this year (or next!).
So, vanilla bean paste has become a staple in our home, so much so that we
buy it in bulk
. It's mine and Chris's favorite thing to add to our whipped cream (we have that "on tap" with our
cream whipper
). The other thing I keep thinking about with holiday gift-giving is that there's an overload of sweets that will spoil. Why not give the gift that's gluten-free, vegan, won't spoil and EVERY foodie will LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!
Vanilla bean paste marries the convenience of vanilla extract and the potency of vanilla beans.
Mr. FoodMadeByTom taught me the glories of this stuff way back when I took a class of his on making chocolate mousse, steak and
veggies. But we didn't use it for the steak and veggies. Although I'm sure there's some universe where vanilla bean paste has been used in making a fancy-pants steak.
I bought some small vials/jars from Specialty Bottle and a giant bottle of vanilla bean paste and filled each one. It's just a sampling of vanilla bean paste, just enough for an extra potent recipe of vanilla whipped cream. Here's the recipe for our whipped cream:
Ultra Vanilla Whipped Cream
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons (pretty sure Chris puts a full tbsp) vanilla bean paste
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Put all ingredients in the
cream whipper and charge. If you're doing it the old fashioned way, put heavy cream into a chilled bowl and whip with a stand or hand mixer. Whip until firm peaks form, fold in sugar and vanilla.
See below to download the vanilla labels. I've made two versions, one for home made extract the other for vanilla bean paste. Enjoy!