Hi all, I just started baking for the first time about six weeks ago after watching cupcake wars and recently did a decorators workshop which gave me confidence and I really enjoyed it. My prob is that have tried a few 100% vanilla essence but have found a weird aftertaste, I have tried vanilla bean paste but its very expensive. I am making my first order on Monday for a local cafe on a trial basis but am really not happy with the vanilla essence. Which vanilla essence do you use ( am in the UK) thanks and take care x

Hi, I use the Neilson-Massey brand. You can get it from Sainsburys etc and is about £5-£6 but is quite a big bottle.

How much vanilla extract are you using? I tend to use half a teaspoon per batch of 14-16 cupcakes. and another half in the frosting. If your recipe is asking for more, then that might be the problem, not the variety you're using.

I'm in the UK, I make my own. I buy my beans off eBay, I can link you if it's something you're interested in. I buy a 1l bottle of Smirnoff (or similar quality brand) and add a few beans to it, let it sit for a few months and it's the best vanilla essence you'll ever try

It also works out cheaper too. You can have a litre of vanilla essence for about £20 when you make it yourself. 118ml of Nielsen Massey is £6 so that'd be £50 for a litre.

Same here....I use 1 litre Smirnoff and buy the vanilla beans off eBay. I've had customers commenting on the vanilla and how much they like it, so it works really well

If you have some iffy vanilla extract, stick a cut-up vanilla bean into each bottle. It will greatly improve the quality in about a week. I used to buy bulk vanilla extract and do this upgrade.

Then I switched to using light Jamaican rum to extract beans myself. I just chop the beans into 4 pieces, cover with rum, and let it sit over the warmest place on top of my oven. After a month or so you have excellent extract, and the beans can be used in cooking custard.

I made a full fifth (750mL) bottle once using 40 vanilla beans. But I like my vanilla STRONG.

I'm from the US but I'm currently visiting family in the UK. In the US Neilsen Massey is very popular and a very nice brand of vanilla. I found it at Tesco the other day. The price was very comparable to what I see in the US. This is what I would use.