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| Layer lemon verbena leaves in the bottom! |
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| Jar Should Be Able to Hold At Least Four Cups of Sugar! |
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| Layer Two Cups of Sugar on Top of Lemon Verbena! |
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| Get Good Vanilla Beans! |
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| These Pods Are a Bit Old But Still Smell Heavenly! |
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| Stick Pieces of Vanilla Bean in Various Places in the Sugar. |
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| Add More Lemon Verbena Leaves and Pods and Top with Additional Two Cups of Sugar! |
OK, I got the recipe from my handy dandy book/magazine from Meredith Publishing called
Herb Gardening. I'll give you the original and then give you my version in parenthesis.
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| Some of You Won This Magazine in My Giveaway Earlier This Year! |
Verbena-Vanilla Sugar
Makes 4 cups (I used 5 cups.)
Harvest one branch about 12 inches long of lemon verbena leaves. (Mine was about 24" long.) Cut branches into 3 inch pieces (Mine were longer.) Layer the verbena in the bottom of a glass jar. The jar should be large enough to hold 4-5 cups of sugar. Pour two cups of sugar into the jar. Stick three vanilla beans split in half lengthwise evenly into the sugar. My vanilla beans did come from
Penzey's. I would always recommend that you buy very good ingredients. Unfortunately, these vanilla beans have been in my pantry for a very long time. So while fragrant, they may not be as potent as they once were! I hope I'm wrong. Maybe once they get into the sugar, they will come to life! I added the extra lemon verbena leaves and added three cups of sugar to cover everything. The recipe says to seal the jar tightly and let stand for at least one week. (I'm going to let it stand for four weeks.) Once the sugar is aromatic, remove the leaves and the beans. If the sugar becomes hard or clumped, break pieces with a wooden spoon and sift the sugar before using.
Hope this gives you another gift for the holiday season. Looking forward to using mine when I bake for The Herbal Husband. Adds another layer of flavor. Beautiful fall days here in the 'Burgh. The jelly making has been lengthen by the beautiful weather. Will have to start watching those low temperatures at night. The frost will sneak up on me. Hope you are having a good day. Talk to you later.
What a nice sounding recipe! Will give this a try. Other than the homegrown herbs I dry myself, all the other seasonings and spice jars in my cupboard have a Penzeys label on them - love that company!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this.
If you're not using the vanilla pods again, grind them down in to a powder and stir into your sugar for maximum vanilla flavour!
ReplyDeleteI do too, TO! We are so lucky to have a store near by. Actually, I'm going there soon to stock up.
ReplyDeleteThanks Herbaholic for the idea! You always have good ones!
Love to you both! xo
I can just imagine the gorgeous smell!
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty good and will be better in a month or so. Thanks for stopping by, Tracey. xo
ReplyDelete