How can I make a stable olive oil and vanilla ganache?

Question

I've just made some vanilla macaron shells that I plan to fill with an olive oil and vanilla ganache.

How should I go about doing this? Should I just make it like a regular ganache or will it just split and not form an emulsion?

Asked by Sebiddychef

Answer

Disclaimer: I've never tried to make a ganache with olive oil, so take that into consideration as you read the following.

First, I have to assume that you're trying to use olive oil to replace the cream that's normally used in making ganache, perhaps to make a non-dairy ganache. If that's not right, please clarify your question.

Ganache is essentially an emulsion of cocoa butter (usually from chocolate) and cream, plus vanilla and/or other flavorings, that is allowed to cool to the point where the cocoa butter solidifies. It's the solidified cocoa butter that gives ganache it's firm texture. The greater the ratio of cocoa butter to cream, the firmer the ganache will be. If you want to replace the cream, you'll need to make sure that you replace all the components that have an effect on the emulsion. Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking explains the structure of ganache:

The continuous phase of this mixture, the portion that permeates it, is a syrup made from the cream's water and the chocolate's sugar. Suspended in the syrup are the milk fat globules from the cream, and cocoa butter droplets and solid cocoa particles from the chocolate.

He doesn't say it, but I'd guess that the milk proteins from the cream might act as emulsifiers to help stabilize the emulsion, much as they do with butter.

The melting point of olive oil is obviously different from that of butterfat, but since you heat the cream in order to make ganache anyway, olive oil might still work. Given what McGee says, you'll need to make sure that you add an appropriate amount of water so that there's enough syrup to suspend the butterfat, cocoa butter, and solids. How much is an appropriate amount? Cream is usually 20-40% butterfat, so starting with a 1 part oil for 2 parts water seems reasonable. You might also need to add something that'll act as an emulsifier, like lecithin.

Answered by Caleb

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How to compare the strength of commercial natural vanilla extracts?

Question

Vanilla extracts usually don't give details on the content of vanilla. Only the main ingredients are listed in descending order of concentration. On the Kirkland brand I saw a figure of 2000ppm naturally occurring vanillin. So:

1. How to compare the strength of commercial vanilla extracts?
2. How can the consumer properly compare prices for different varieties without details on the concentration of vanilla extracts?
3. Are there differences in intensity of different vanilla bean varieties?

Answer

1. By US law, any "pure" vanilla extract must contain at least 35% alcohol and 13.35 oz vanilla bean per gallon; I'm willing to bet companies do their very best to keep the vanilla concentration to exactly that amount and no more. I have no idea why the Kirkland brand talked about ppm. A "pure" vanilla extract lawfully may contain other things besides vanilla, alcohol, and water (e.g., corn syrup), but the best ones don't -- check the ingredient list.

   If, by the way, you search the internet, you can find double- and even triple-strength extracts, but these are not sold in the typical megamart and few recipes call for them, so there is little point for the home cook to worry about them.

2. Unfortunately, your only choice is a taste test (unless you have access to a highly sophisticated food-chemistry lab).

3. Yes. Vanilla is grown in a variety of tropical and sub-tropical climates, including Florida and Hawaii, but there are three commercially significant places where vanilla is grown: Tahiti, Mexico, and Madagascar.

   • Tahitian vanilla is its own variety of plant (vanilla tahitensis); it produces beans with a delicate floral aroma. Many say Tahitian vanilla is the cream of the crop, but it is also the least potent.
   • Mexican vanilla (vanilla planifolia) makes bean with a potent, sometimes even funky aroma (funky in a good way), which will provide the greatest vanilla bang for the buck. The main problem is finding a reliable supply. Note that some extracts claiming to be of pure vanilla that were made in Mexico have proven to be vanilla-flavored extracts that do not, in fact, contain any vanilla.
   • Madagascar (also planifolia) produces about 70% of all vanilla imported into the US. It is sometimes called "Bourbon" because the French imported the plant back when they were the colonial masters of Madagascar, then called the Island of Bourbon.

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What should I do with too-dry vanilla beans?

Question

A few weeks ago, I bought a few vanilla beans to make mint ice cream. I only needed one, so I put the other bean back into the glass container it came in. Today, I was having a hard time using the vanilla bean while making a trifle.

When I took it out of the container, it was very dry and not pliable as I would have expected. I was still able to scrape the seeds, but the bean was broken into several pieces because it was so brittle.

Is there anything I can do to too-dry vanilla beans to make them easier to use?

Answer

I like the method of wrapping it in a damp paper towel and zapping it in the microwave for 10-20 seconds. This should moisten it up just enough to allow you to split and scrape. This article mentions that method as well as soaking very briefly in hot water: http://bakingbites.com/2011/06/how-long-do-vanilla-beans-last/

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What does vanilla extract add to a recipe?

Question

I have been cooking for a while and have noticed small amount of Vanilla extract needed in cakes, cookies, muffins, even a smoothie recipe. Often times I forget the Vanilla or don't have any. What am I losing in general in a recipe without any Vanilla Extract?

Then in this recipe 1 cup yogurt, 1 banana, 4-6 cups milk, 1 peach, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract what does the Vanilla add or subtract?

Answer

Vanilla extract adds the flavour of vanilla! Not as nice as using a real vanilla bean, but significantly cheaper and much easier to get hold of.

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Why non-flavored variant is usually vanilla?

Question

Usually the "flavorless" version of various desserts or drinks is in fact vanilla flavored -- why not leaving the product just as it is, especially when the "flavoured" versions usually don't contain vanilla? Any why vanilla, not anything else?

Answer

Why Vanilla???

Vanilla is a rich and powerful flavor, with over 200 flavor compounds besides the basic vanillin. Due to its complexity and neutral flavor, it can be combined with a plethora of other flavors without conflicting. It just provides a good neutral base to build on. The vanilla also enriches the products if they are combined with additional flavorings, adding body and depth to the final result.

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Ok, so Vanilla makes sense, but why add ANY flavoring?

On their own, sweet products may not have much flavor (remember, ice cream is just milk, sugar, and cream). Vanilla gives them a little flavor as a starting point. It also masks any unpleasant flavors present as a result of ingredients. For example, truly unflavored yogurt has a fairly strong lactic acid flavor of its own; this is something where you can get a TRULY unflavored yogurt and see what I mean. It's a whole different animal, and brings to mind that it's simply soured milk. Carbonated water similarly has a fairly unpleasant bite to it when no flavoring is added, as a result of the carbon dioxide reacting with water to produce carbonic acid.

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Why can't I find stuff without ANY flavoring?

You can, if you know where to look! The truly unflavored products are generally used differently than their vanilla-flavored "unflavored" counterparts. Club soda / seltzer water is simply unflavored soda, and is stored with the stuff for mixed drinks, since that's where it is normally used. Unflavored yogurt is used in cooking savory Mediterranean dishes, and may be to the side of the flavored yogurts. As the comment mentions, unflavored ice cream is available as sweet cream.

I can't think of any other normally-vanilla flavored products, but if you can come up with some, I can probably find them for you under a different name.

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