So Christmas is here in a big way. I’ve spent the weekend doing some of my favourite thing about the festive period – spending time with friends, decorating trees, visiting a Christmas fair, making presents and, of course, baking. I spent this weekend with a couple of friends and we had a wonderfully festive time buying and decorating a tree. Despite my controlling ways threatening to dampen spirits (sometimes I just can’t help myself) we were all pleased with the end result.
Over the next few weeks I have a collection of twelve seasonal recipes and gift ideas for you to try out, hence the ever so clever title of this series ’12 Days of Christmas’. These are mostly homemade foodie gifts but I’m also going to attempt my own cards this year.
First up is DIY Vanilla Extract, a very simple but practical gift for any of your baker friends. The most difficult part for me was purchasing the alcohol as a non-drinker – there is A LOT of choice out there when you don’t really know what you’re looking for!
I got these cute little bottles and the vanilla pods on Amazon. The alcohol is up to you, vodka, rum or bourbon would all work here, I chose dark rum because I wasn’t really sure what Bourbon was and the rum, which I know my family enjoy, was on offer!
Homemade Vanilla Extract
Vanilla Pods, 2 per 100ml
Sterilized glass bottles
Rum, Vodka or Boubon
Slice the vanilla pod down the centre and scrape out the beans. Add the beans and the pod to the glass bottle. Fill the bottle with the alcohol, close the lid and invert a couple of times.
Leave in a cool, dark and dry place for 2 months before using.