Vanilla Alternatives

I was at Costco, I had the thirty-five dollar bottle of vanilla in my cart, when the doubt seeped in.  Thirty-five dollars!  For vanilla!  There had to be another way.  I consulted The Googles while stalled in the coffee aisle.  A search revealed there were pastes and concentrates….and of course I could have gone with artificial.  But I’ve read where artificial vanilla flavors come from.  It’s potentially really gross.

I could have simply just bought the dang stuff for thirty-five bucks.  But I’ve been cheap for so long that I’m pretty sure there’s no going back.  And I’m not sad about it, frankly.  I put the bottle back and continued my search online.  And then I found it.  The intrawebs said that bourbon or dark rum can be substituted for vanilla.  My baking life was forever changed in an instant, standing there next to the coffee in Costco, trying to avoid the crowds of folks trying to get a free sample of this, that, or the other thing.

I was off to the liquor store.  I don’t know a whole lot about hard liquor.  It was kind of a problem while pursuing ever higher levels as a sommelier.  I don’t like spirits.  To me it all tastes like flavored lighter fluid.  Not a fan.  Hubs, on the other hand, knows his whiskey.  It’s kind of sexy.  He was all excited to be at the liquor store…we’re not there often….but we were there specifically for bourbon, which is right up his alley.

I was standing there with a blank look on my face, overwhelmed by the selction of bottles, when the sales clerk asked if I needed help.  After explaining the situation….yanno, global warming is pushing vanilla orchids to the brink and causing prices to go through the roof….yes, vanilla beans do come from an orchid!…etc, etc.  And we’re chatting and he pulls down a bottle of Jim Beam Vanilla Bourbon.  What?!  Then he turns around to the liqueur shelves and hands me Dr. McGillicuddy’s Raw Vanilla liqueur.  My Christmas baking was saved!  I got some dark rum, too, because rum balls.  Duh.

The bottle was more than twice the size and it was half the price.  Bingo!  This is my Christmas present to all of you…an epic baking hack.  Merry Christmas to all of you bakers!