Hello Cake Friends! Did you know that vanilla has become as valuable as silver – the second most valuable metal after gold? And prices are still rising.
This didn’t use to be this way. What happened?
Indeed, we can call it liquid gold. In this video, I explain the difference between real vanilla and imitation vanilla (the video is in German and English):
The difference between natural and synthetic vanilla:
I used to buy these big yellow bottles of real vanilla here in Switzerland, at Aligro. Is used to cost 50 Francs back in 2013. After a price increase to 110 Francs, the product was pulled from the market. and replaced by smaller bottles with a much lower concentration of vanilla beans (only 15% of the syrup was vanilla bean seeds).
This problem is still ongoing today, in 2021. I wonder if that will ever change. Considering the problems in Madagascar, I highly doubt it.
The good news is that we can keep using synthetic vanilla flavor, and most of our clients and friends will prefer that taste anyway!
Some sources:
- Tages-Anzeiger 23.9.2016, “Der bittere Beigeschmack der Vanille”
- The Economist 23.3.2018: “Why there is a worldwide shortage of vanilla”
Now, please tell me about yourself: Which vanilla product do you like to use in baking? The real seeds? The imitation? The powdered dried beans?
Let me know in the comments below!
Happy baking,
Xuân-Minh
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