Did you know ? The vanilla pod is not a single-use product!
Too often infused once and then thrown in the trash, the so-called "exhausted" vanilla pod still contains treasures of culinary possibilities.
In this section we will reveal recipes, tips and tricks that will allow you to use and optimize your vanilla purchases.
Behind this product hides a story, a gesture, a know-how, to waste part of it is to waste these aspects... And to deprive yourself of additional greed!
How to recondition the vanilla after its first use?
Simply rinse the used pod under running cold water and pat it dry with a clean cloth. It is ready to be reused.
How to store it after use?
It all depends on your preferences:
- Placed in your sugar jar, it will give a subtle vanilla note to your pastries.
- It can be stored in an airtight jar with a tablespoon of rum in your fridge.
- It is also possible to keep it in the freezer in an airtight box for a future infusion.
- They can be dried in the open air (ideal for pralines and vanilla powders).
- A more original option is to keep it in an oil (preferably neutral: grapeseed, sunflower), it will be perfumed and your pod will remain supple.
How to reuse it?
Apart from our recipe cards, here are some tips:
- It can infuse your fruit compotes or jams, your ganaches.
- You can also add them to a recipe using fresh cloves to intensify the flavors of your recipe.
- Put them to macerate in an amber rum for a few months and you will obtain a vanilla rum that will brighten up your aperitifs, cocktails or end of meal.
- Dried and mixed then sifted, they will give you a powder with intense aromas to enrich the flavors of your sweet pastry, brioches, biscuits, cakes or compotes.
How many times can exhausted vanilla be infused?
You can without any problem infuse your exhausted pods about ten times before reducing them to powder or using them in our vanilla oil or praline recipes.
We told you nothing is lost in vanilla!