Real vanilla pods are not cheap, so it is worth knowing which desserts actually reward the expense and which ones would taste nearly identical with a cheaper substitute. Here are five where the difference is unmistakable, and where to find the full method for each.
Crème brûlée
A custard base with almost nowhere for a weak vanilla to hide. The pod carries the entire flavour of the dish, and the visible seeds through the set custard are half the reason it looks the way it does. See the full recipe on the Recipes page.
Vanilla bean pavlova
A meringue shell built almost entirely from egg white and sugar has very little else going on, which is exactly why real vanilla seeds, visible through the crisp shell and marshmallow centre, earn their place here more than in almost any other bake.
Pots de crème
Crème brûlée’s quieter cousin, richer and denser, baked gently in a water bath. No torched sugar top to distract from the custard itself, which means the vanilla has to do more of the work.
Vanilla bean financiers
Brown butter and almond meal are strong flavours in their own right, and a weak vanilla would simply vanish underneath them. It takes real seeds, used generously, to actually register in the finished cake.
Poached pears in vanilla syrup
The pod infuses directly into the poaching liquid here, with nothing to mask it beyond a little sugar and the pear itself. A weak vanilla makes a merely sweet syrup. A good one makes a genuinely fragrant one.
Full ingredients and method for all of these, along with the rest of the collection, are on the Journal and the Recipes page.