Homemade Christmas presents: Vanilla Extract

Two years ago a good friend of mine gave me the best present; it was useful and thoughtful; beautiful and perfect for me. The best part of this present was that it is consumable but can be remade to last forever. Perfect for every baker! So what did she give me?

So this summer, after 18 good months of use, my huge bottle of vanilla extract finally ran out. Aw such a shame, but hold on... this present is renewable. So I decided to show you how to refresh your own vanilla extract, or make it for your own baking buddy.

Here's what you will need:

A bottle to present your gift.
Vodka
4 Vanilla Pods
Time: 3-6 months

This is remarkably simple to do and I hear you saying that we do not have 3-6 months until Christmas but if you wanted to give this as a gift this Christmas you could prepare it now and suggest not to use for a few months. Honestly the extract has flavour from about a month in but the colour and flavour develops best in the 6 month period.

Anyway here we go:

Roll your vanilla pods and then slice them in half

Scrap out the seeds and add to the bottle, then add your sliced pods.

Now simply fill up with the vodka and shake. Then store and shake periodically and after just 3 months - voila -

Final note:
Ok I'll be honest - this post is a bit phoned in and after missing a week, last week, one might have hoped for something a little more exciting. The truth is that college has gotten crazy hectic and my energy for blogging has suffered. So you have my official apologies for the lack luster blogging but feel assured that soon Christmas baking will get underway and posts will return to normal. In the mean time I really recommend trying this, it's so handy having this much vanilla essence.