Torrents of rain beat down upon the tropical island of Madagascar during the spring of 2017. Insane winds of 225 mph beat everything in its path, destroying many homes and crops. This tropical cyclone wrought much sorrow upon all who called this place their home, but not only did it turn their world upside down, the cyclone affected many world wide. Many vanilla bean plantations stood in the path of this horrifying cyclone, and like everything else in cyclone Enawo’s path, the plants were ripped to shreds, devastating all who relied on the abundant harvest of vanilla beans. Companies world wide depended on the harvest from these crops to make their products, as Madagascar supplies the majority of vanilla around the world. They tried to find other sources, but to no avail. Though there are other countries such as Mexico and Indonesia that grow vanilla; they cannot keep up with the high demand for vanilla with Madagascar basically being out of the picture.
Many of you, may have already noticed the drastic increase in vanilla prices, and these prices may continue to rise as the vanilla bean plant takes a minimum of three years before it will begin to produce. What was once an easy to obtain spice, is now the second most expensive spice worldwide; saffron being the first. Many in the food industry are finding that vanilla has surpassed the cost of most of their ingredients, making many businesses look for alternate routes for vanilla. There is nothing that can quite take the place of vanilla, but I have found a couple alternative flavors that can be used as a substitute.
Almond extractis an excellent flavor, that can be used in any baked good that calls for vanilla. It does not have the same complex flavor vanilla does, but its sweet yet somewhat nutty flavor, compliments many baked goods nicely. In some recipes, such as cherry pie or sugar cookies; almond is a flavor I choose over vanilla. Almond is a stronger flavor than vanilla, so if substituting for vanilla, use half the amount the recipe calls for.
Another flavor that can be used in place of vanilla is pure maple syrup. Use the real stuff, not the mock maple syrup for the best results. To use in replacement of vanilla use the same measurements as vanilla or double it for extraordinary flavor. Try using it in pumpkin pecan bread, or pumpkin chocolate chip cake cookies. I used it in these recipes and found it to be quite tasty!
Though these substituitions aren’t quite the same as vanilla, they work in this time of turmoil, and who knows? You may find they compliment some recipes better than vanilla.