The short answer: use paste when you want to see vanilla seeds in the finished dish, and extract when you want the flavour without the specks. For most recipes you can swap them one for one.
What's the difference?
Vanilla extract is vanilla beans steeped in alcohol, then strained. It's thin, clear and brown, with no seeds.
Vanilla paste is thick and spoonable, and full of tiny black seeds. Many pastes are made with sugar syrup or thickeners. Ours is made from ground vanilla with no alcohol, so the flavour and specks come from the vanilla itself.
| Paste | Extract | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks | Thick, with visible seeds | Thin liquid, no seeds |
| Specks in the dish | Yes | No |
| Alcohol | Ours has none | At least 35% |
| Best for | Custards, ice cream, frosting and cream | Cakes, cookies, drinks and sauces |
When to use paste
Reach for paste when the vanilla is the star and you want people to see it: vanilla-bean ice cream, crème brûlée, pastry cream, panna cotta, buttercream and whipped cream. It gives you the look of a scraped pod without the splitting and scraping.
When to use extract
Use extract when vanilla is supporting other flavours, or when specks would look out of place. Think chocolate cake, cookies, pancakes, coffee, cocktails and sauces. It also blends instantly into liquids.
How to substitute
- Paste for extract: swap one for one. 1 teaspoon of extract becomes 1 teaspoon of paste.
- Paste for a whole bean: use roughly 2–3 teaspoons of paste in place of one bean.
- Powder for either: start with about half the amount and adjust to taste. Powder is useful when you don't want to add any liquid.
These are starting points. Strength varies by brand and by bean, so taste as you go.
Can you make paste at home?
Yes. Blend the seeds and finely chopped pods of a few beans with a little sugar syrup or glycerin until thick, then keep it in a sealed jar. Using vanilla powder makes this quicker.
Which should you keep in the cupboard?
If you bake a lot, keep both. Extract covers everyday baking, and paste is for the dishes where vanilla should be seen. Browse our paste, powder and caviar, or make your own extract.