bakery cook and tips: vanilla beans

If Chocolate and Vanilla were to go to a karaoke night out, and Chocolate would stand up and dedicate a song to Vanilla, I am pretty sure it will be... drumroll please... Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings.

Not that I'm being cheesy and all ( I am actually, going for "Vanilla-y", yeah I know, there's no such word), but I am sure the brilliant writer/s behind it definitely had Vanilla in mind when he/they created the song.

I am sure you are familiar with it (go with me on this one, please? hahaha!), but just to those who aren't, here's the lyrics.

See? I can definitely imagine Chocolate singing this song to Vanilla. A lot can can be said about vanilla but for me this song beautifully sums it all. Don't you agree? Have I just made new vanilla fans out of you, my dear Bake Happy friends? :)

So when I received this wonderful gift from The Vanilla Co, being overly ecstatic is an understatement. Looking at the package, this is how a vanilla bean be, special and treasured.

I can't get over how moist and plump these beans are. Can you spell a-m-a-z-i-n-g?

These beans deserved the very best. I have thought long and hard on what to make and decided on making a Vanilla Bean Torte.

This is actually an ode to Vanilla Bean Cafe which made the BEST Deep Dark Chocolate Torte ever. They recently closed so sadly, I won't be able to get to taste their unbelievably amazing torte anymore. So here I am making a version of it, vanilla bean style.

Our Vanilla Bean Torte will start with a walnut praline base which will be covered by a vanilla bean filled white chocolate ganache topped with vanilla bean (yet again) filled white chocolate mousse.

And when you make this, please don't be like me and poke it every 15 minutes or so once in the refrigerator. If you do that, you'll end up with those small mooncrater like surface similar to the below. See, no more smooth surface torte... but it tastes great just the same.

Vanilla Bean Torte

Walnut Praline

1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts

(1) Place chopped nuts in a cookie sheet.

(2) Cook sugar till caramel brown then pour over walnuts

(3) Let it cool for an hour

(4) Break the praline up and chop finely. If you have a food processor, now will be a great time to take it out and use it. But since I don't have one, chopping will do just fine.

(5) In a 7-inch metal ring, press the praline down using a small round pan to serve as the torte's base.

Vanilla Bean White Chocolate Ganache

500 grams chopped white chocolate (I used Tulip)
lotsa vanilla beans
1 cup cream

(1) Add vanilla beans to the chopped white chocolate
(2) Bring cream to a boil and pour over chocolate.

(3) Sing one fast "Happy Birthday Song" (kidding.. wait for ten seconds) then stir ganache until well combined.

(4) Pour over walnut praline inside the metal ring.

White Chocolate Mousse
adapted from Food Network

7 ounces white chocolate, chopped into very small pieces
lotsa vanilla beans
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup plus 1/4 cup heavy cream

(1) Add vanilla beans to the chopped white chocolate

(2) Mix egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy

(3) Bring 1/4 cup of cream to a boil, pour some cream to the egg yolk mixture to temper it. Add the egg yolk mixture to the rest of the cream. Mix constantly until thick and let it cool.

(4) Whip 1 cup cream until thick. Now you have 2 bowls that needs to be combined together. One is light (the cream) and one is very heavy (the egg yolk mixture). To somehow bring them to the same weight, fold a quarter of the cream to the egg yolk mixture to lighten it up. When it starts to lighten up, fold in the rest of the cream until well combined.

(5) Pour over the ganache inside the metal ring.

(6) Chill for 8 hours or overnight.

I love the contrasting texture of the layers, crunchy praline, chewy ganache and smooth mousse all covered in lotsa vanilla beans. As vanilla beans lovers, what more can we ask for?

A big thanks goes to Perry Jocson of The Vanilla Co for sending Bake Happy the most luscious vanilla beans I have ever seen! And a big thanks to The Vanilla Co for the wonderful article on Bake Happy you wrote. So sweet of you. Thank you!

Happiness to Charlie Brown and the Gang is:

finding a pencil.

Pizza with sausage.

Telling the time.

Happiness is learning to whistle.

Tying your shoe for the very first time.

Happiness for Bake Happy Blogger is:

Having a sister

Sharing Bulgogi

Pouring vanilla extract onto a cake batter without a care in the world.

Yeah, it is a total luxury to have Vanilla Extract and pour not just a teaspoon or two in your recipe. That's why I envy Chef Michael Smith, that lucky guy! He's got this big bottle of homemade vanilla extract that he just pours in total abandon when he's making a cake. Never measuring how much he's put into his batter. Ohhh that's the life!

You see, I always buy from The Vanilla Bean Company for my vanilla extract and vanilla bean needs. Unfortunately, I always run out of the extract so I have to go out and buy some again. So I decided, I might save money if I make my own vanilla extract using their beans. Plus, that will allow me to live my dream of pouring vanilla extract into my batter like there's no tomorrow. Like Chef Michael.

So here I am on my kitchen with a bottle of vodka and vanilla beans.

Homemade Vanilla Extract
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 liter Vodka
15 pcs Vanilla Beans