Vanilla has got to be one of the most sensual scents and tastes on this planet. As much as I love chocolate (and I do love chocolate sooooo much) desserts with vanilla usually gets my vote at the end of a meal. At Le Cordon Bleu we used this powder during our pastry classes and it’s powerful stuff. Use 2-3 pinches of it when a recipe asks for a teaspoon of vanilla extract. The powder is made of vanilla pods finely ground up. It’s easier to distribute evenly throughout a batter than vanilla extract. It also bakes nicely in the oven. I love to add it to whipped cream and ice cream to get that vanilla seed look and taste. In fact, I love it so much that I now add it to one small container of milk in fridge so I can have vanilla milk as well as to my sugar. Vanilla addict, I know. Happily you can now get this powder in the U.S. at Sur La Table or just about anywhere in Paris.
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Is this a new Cordon Bleu thing? I remember using the beans at my classes (and thinking, my God! What a waste to use beans when half this food is destined to be wasted or given to our landladies!)