Vanilla Bean Paste

Ingredients

This recipe is for paste using extracted beans with no seeds (caviar)

• 8 oz empty, extracted vanilla bean pods (weighed after extraction)
• Notes: if using fresh beans, use 4.5oz of beans if; using ground vanilla bean powder use 2.5 oz of powder, if using extracted beans with caviar use 7.5oz (weighed after extraction).
• 8 oz sugar
• 14 oz of alcohol (fluid oz I prefer dark spiced rum)
• 2 oz of invert sugar (fluid oz, most easy to find is corn syrup- at Rosemallow we make our own invert sugar and use that instead)
• 1/2 tsp of xantham gum powder (can be excluded, but paste will be much more runny)
• Note: xantham gum & invert sugar can be replaced with 2 oz of honey

Yield is approximately 32 oz 

Note: I strongly suggest borrowing or using an extremely high powdered blended like a Vitamix. It will pulverize the beans almost immediately and create a beautiful paste. We borrow our good friends Lisa & Manuel’s when we make it.

Instructions for a Vitamix

1. Put all ingredients except xantham gum in the blender. Put the top on and make sure its sealed tight.
2. Slowly increase the speed of the blender until it is on high.
3. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes until the beans are completely ground up.
4. Turn blender off, slowly add in the xantham gum at a low speed.
5. Make sure blender is sealed up completely and grind it again on high speed for 1-2  minutes. 
6. Jump to storage instructions for final steps.
   
   Instructions for a Food Processor used with a standard Blender

1. in a food processor add the vanilla beans. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
2. Add 2 oz of alcohol to vanilla beans. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
3. Scrape sides, add 2 oz  more of alcohol to vanilla beans. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
4. Scrape sides, add 1/2 the sugar to the bean mixture. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
5. Scrape sides, slowly add 4 oz of alcohol to the mixture. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
6. Scrape sides, add other half of sugar to the mixture. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
7. Scrape sides, add invert sugar or honey to mixture. Grind for approximately 1-1.5 min.
8. Transfer mixture to standard blender. Add the remaining alcohol. Blend for 3-7 min checking the consistency every minute or so to see if the consistency is VERY smooth and has VERY little fibers/chunks. 
9. Follow Storage Instruction steps.

Storage Instructions 

1. Pour into a large, wide mouthed mason jar, put a lid on it. DO NOT water bathe or pressure cook these to SEAL- it is VERY dangerous AND unnecessary!!!
2. Label with date.
3. It will last on the counter for multiple months.
4. Like extract it will get better with time.
5. Look at the GF recipe blog for other recipes to maximize use of these precious beans