It’s product review time, bitches! In this Very Special Episode, I’m going to introduce to you my best friend, Vanilla Bean Paste. Say hullo, Vanilla Bean Paste! Also Random Capitalizations!

I stumbled across my new BFF while perusing an aisle at Surfas, my friendly neighborhood kitchen supply shop. I’m sure most food oriented people already knew of this marvel, but I am but an esoteric ingredient virgin. So I pick up some and proceed to love it forever. Why is it so awesome you ask? Because it prevents me from having to spend all my monies on ridiculously expensive vanilla beans when I want some of that tell-tell vanilla tiny black speck stuff to show up in my sweets. And to me, it’s just not really vanilla without the specks.

Also, One vanilla bean = $12. One jar of vanilla bean paste = $9, which contains the contents of like, hundreds of vanilla beans! It’s all about value, my friends!

The product itself is like a syrupy vanilla extract with the innards of a vanilla bean thrown in. Substituting this for vanilla bean or vanilla extract could slightly throw off the moisture balance of your recipe, so keep that in mind for fiddly baked goods. Unfortunately, you prolly can’t find this in a normal supermarket, unless it’s awesome. So order off the internet or go to a specialty store.

Get some! It’s like vanilla flavored crack!