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[MissKitty]

I don't care where it comes from - the vanilla bean PASTE is far superior to vanilla EXTRACT.

[cuddlyevil]

MK, can you use it like you would vanilla extract? Do you have to alter the wet ingredients at all to accommodate the change? This stuff intrigues me.

I just got all excited because I found a place that has the super awesome, concentrated food coloring (the gels and the powders) and they're priced right.

[MissKitty]

The paste is pretty much interchangeable with the extract, unless you are flavoring icing. The paste has little flecks of vanilla bean in it, which looks lovely in baked goods and ice cream, but would look weird in icing.

Are you using the AmeriColor gel colorings? Those are AWESOME and have good, true colors without the metallic taste that some of the gel colorings have.

[cuddlyevil]

Ooo..I'm going to have to get myself some paste.

I'm not yet, but I plan to invest in a fairly decent range of colors so I can be prepared for all the birthdays and cookies this year :-)

[MissKitty]

You won't be disappointed. The vanilla flavor is so rich and delicious.

[Juliana]

I'm a huge fan of the crazy apparently dangerous Mexican Vanilla.

[scurvygirl]

I'm a huge fan of the crazy apparently dangerous Mexican Vanilla.

Apparently dangerous? I use Mexican Vanilla in most of my baking projects.  Or is the danger in the deliciousness?

[vizzah]

I'm a huge fan of the crazy apparently dangerous Mexican Vanilla.

Apparently dangerous? I use Mexican Vanilla in most of my baking projects.  Or is the danger in the deliciousness?

Ditto. I loaded up on the stuff when we were in Puerto Aventuras.

[Dan]

Okay, so maybe there's more than just Madagascar Vanilla.... anyway, I found my source:

Investment Advice: Short Cupcake Futures: Crumbs Bake Shops, the largest trendy-cupcakes chain, is going public in a deal that will provide capital for "ambitious expansion plans," The New York Times reports. Crumbs has 34 stores now and 200 planned. I'd short Crumbs stock -- cupcakes are becoming a classic bubble. It can't be much longer that trendies will pay $5 for a cupcake that contain 20 cents worth of butter, flour and sugar.

At a charity raffle, I won a dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake, the bakery in the reality show "DC Cupcakes." As part of the sales psychology of making bits of cake with huge globs of icing sound better than the cupcakes you bake at home, Georgetown Cupcake says it uses only Madagascar Bourbon vanilla. Sound extra fancy? Most of the world's vanilla comes from Madagascar, while nearly all vanilla used in baking, including by supermarkets, is the Madagascar Bourbon cultivar, vanilla planifolia.

That's from Gregg Easterbrook found here.

[Juliana]

I've heard....from sources....
Like Martha Stewart or America's Test Kitchen or something.

[Butter]

If Mexican Vanilla is anything like Mexican Coke, then the danger is in the deliciousness.

[MissKitty]

If Mexican Vanilla is anything like Mexican Coke, then the danger is in the deliciousness.

LIKE!

[va-vacious]

If Mexican Vanilla is anything like Mexican Coke, then the danger is in the deliciousness.

LIKE!

x2!

[c-lando]

OH GOOD LORD! The butternut squash soup at Atlanta Bread Co. faaaaaaaaaar exceeded my expectations. NOM 2 tha Nth!

[Butter]

We're getting ready to put some butternut squash pasta sauce into the big K in about 2 months.  It is tasty stuff.  Only going in about 1/3 of the stores though.