Vanilla Powder

Let me tell you about Vanilla Powder, and why it earns its place next to the flour, not next to the sugar.

Rub a pinch between your fingers before you buy. It should feel fine and dry, almost like dust, with tiny dark flecks catching the light. Bring it close and smell — warm, sweet, a little like dried fruit, never sharp, never flat. That smell is the whole point of the jar. If it barely smells of anything, put it back; a good jar announces itself before you even twist the lid off. Colour alone won't tell you much — powders vary — so trust your nose over your eyes.

Some people say Vanilla Powder is just "concentrated vanilla sugar." No! Vanilla sugar is sugar with a little vanilla rubbed through it — mostly sugar, barely any vanilla. This jar is the other way round. That mistake sends people spooning it in by the heap, the way they would with sugar, and the dessert ends up tasting of nothing but vanilla, every other flavour pushed out of the way. Treat it like a spice, not a sweetener. A small pinch, stirred in, tasted — that's enough to know you were right to buy it.