A spicy squeeze of seductive vanilla

It’s in our coffee, our perfume, our chocolate and our scented candles. Warm, dusky vanilla is at once comforting and seductive, alluring and motherly; the perfect ingredient for some advance Valentine’s Day cooking.

There is even romance in its history. In Mexico, the beautiful flowers of the vanilla orchid supposedly bloomed for only one day a year, and then for only a few hours, making pollination by the country’s hummingbirds and melipona bees an extremely chancy affair.

Fortunately, a manual method of pollination was developed in the 19th century and Vanilla planifolia is now grown in South America, Madagascar and Indonesia. A different species, no longer dependent on the birds and bees for its survival, is grown in Tahiti.

The vanilla orchid’s long, slim pods are harvested and sun-dried, or distilled into vanilla essence or extract, a dark and dense perfumed syrup. Fresh vanilla beans should be soft and squishy, so squeeze them before you buy.If they are dried-up old sticks they won’t have that warm, enveloping scent, with floral and spicy caramel notes, that imbues even nursery food such as rice pudding with a slightly risqu? air.

To use, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise with the tip of a sharp knife.

After use, clean and dry the beans and bury them in your caster-sugar jar for a cache of sweetly scented baking sugar. And always scrape out and use the tiny black seeds inside — their pepper-like trail reassures vanillaphiles that you have used the real thing.



Baked vanilla ricotta with orange syrup



Prep: 15mins

Cook: 40mins

Serves 4

Look for fresh ricotta in European-style delicatessen counters or Galbani Santa Lucia ricotta in major supermarkets.

Adapted from Philip Johnson’s Bistro (Murdoch Books).

750g ricotta cheese
200g icing sugar, sifted
1tbsp grated orange zest
3 x 60g eggs
2 vanilla beans
1 large orange
150ml fresh orange juice
3tbsp honey

METHOD

Lightly oil a 20cm x 10cm (8 x 4in) loaf tin and line with baking paper.

Combine the ricotta, icing sugar, orange zest and eggs in a bowl.

Split the vanilla beans lengthwise and scrape the seeds of one bean into the mixture.

Beat well, then spoon into the loaf tin, place in a baking tray and pour in enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides.

Bake for 40 minutes until set, then remove and cool.

Cut the skin and pith from the orange and slice. Heat the orange juice, remaining vanilla bean and honey and boil until syrupy, stirring constantly.

Scrape the vanilla seeds into the syrup, pour over the sliced oranges and cool.

Turn out the baked ricotta and thickly slice. Serve with the oranges and drizzle with the syrup.

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Lemon vanilla cake

Prep: 20mins

Cook: 40mins

Serves 6

The vanilla extract adds warmth and floral notes to the tang of lemon.

125g butter
125g caster sugar
1tbsp grated lemon rind
3 eggs
200g self-raising flour
140ml sour cream
40ml lemon juice
2tsp vanilla extract

METHOD

Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 3, and lightly butter a 20cm round cake tin.

Beat the butter, caster sugar and lemon rind with an electric beater until pale and creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well.

Fold in the flour, sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla extract, and transfer to the cake tin.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool, dust with icing sugar and serve.