#1 Australian natural vanilla

When you're at the supermarket, not all vanilla is created equal. There are lots of vanilla extracts and essences and flavourings, but unless you're getting a pure vanilla bean, which are expensive, the chances are, you're getting something artificial.

There have been periods of time over the last decade where buying natural vanilla was difficult, so we were pleased to find the Australian brand Very Vanilla who have a pure extract and paste in their vanilla range.

Pure Natural Vanilla Extract

Start with a pure vanilla bean, water, alcohol and sugar, you get a flavourful concentrated liquid to add to cake mixes and baking. The intense flavour is created from a very slow extraction process to get the flavour from the bean. It has a colour like a strongly brewed up of tea so many ever so slightly colour a light cake, but not a lot. There are no 'bits' in the extract.

Pure Natural Vanilla Paste

Take the pure vanilla bean, sugar syrup and the extract above and you have a sweet and intense paste. You get the full bean experience with a gentle brew and finely ground bean, making use of the oils, flavour and seeds found naturally in a vanilla bean. When stirred through your cooking, you'll see fine specs of black magic.

Which vanilla suits you?

Without anything artificial, without any prep work, you have the best of both worlds with these two products. Mountains of flavour from both, one in an 'invisible' liquid and the other creating little black specs through your cooking.

You choose, the flavour is delicious either way!

About Aussie brand Very Vanilla

Pure & chemical free, Australian brand Very Vanilla grow Australia's best Bourbon vanilla beans (known as Vanilla planifolia). They use only sustainable and chemical free farming techniques to produce a moist textured and sublime flavoured bean. The whole process happens on Australian soil, so not only are the beans grown here, but the products are made here too. They truly are a 100% Australian business from start to finish. The beans are grown on vines in Tropical North Queensland in Mirriwinni.

The beans are grown in a rainforest where the canopy uses its shade to protect them. The moisture and leaf little and the canopy are the perfect growing environment for a vanilla plantation. They are hand pollinated during flowering season to produce some of the best quality vanilla beans in the world.

The 5 popular things done with natural vanilla

1. Having a cupcake? Chances are, there's some kind of vanilla essence or extract in any cake mix unless it's a dedicated flavour like chocolate. There's something about vanilla cake that makes a great base for adding all kinds of different flavours in fillings and icing.
2. Custard, whether it's store bought you make it yourself is traditionally flavoured with vanilla. Serve vanilla custard hot or cold, on its own or drizzled over something yummy like a poached pear.
3. Vanilla Ice Cream - this one really should be on the top of the list. One of the most simple and divine desserts is a bowl of vanilla ice cream which can be enjoyed solo or used as a simple side to any number of extravagent desserts.
4. Vanilla is used in our very own Vanilla Mozi cream to keep the mozzies away from you. Not only this, it's a popular ingredient in natural beauty products from shampoo, conditioner, body lotions, even some perfume blends.
5. Vanilla is used often purely for its scent, and like #4, not just for beauty products. Scented candles often have vanilla in them for is sweet and warm aroma which envokes feelings of joy from eating many of the vanilla flavoured foods we have talked about already

For more delicious food ideas, scroll through these 37 vanilla desserts to see what you feel like spoiling yourself with.