"If you're infusing milk or cream for custards or sauces, vanilla bean seeds are unbeatable," she says. It's worth the ...

Then, use the back of the knife to gently scrape out the seeds—the bean’s "caviar.” Stir these directly into your batter, dough, or custard to infuse your creation with intense vanilla flavor.

And if you buy vanilla beans, you can also use the seeds themselves while cooking. Simply cut open the pod, and scrape the tiny seeds out. Then add them to a dish. Like all orchids, wild vanilla ...

Vanilla beans begin as the seedpods of a tropical orchid (left); Chocolate is made from the seeds hidden inside the fruit of the cacao tree (right). Florilegius / SSPL / Getty Images Of all the ...

In a small saucepan, whisk the Marsala with the sugar and vanilla bean seeds and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to a simmer; turn the heat to ...

Infused into the cream, the round flavor of the vanilla bean offsets the tartness of the passion fruit. A smidge of gelatin assists in the set. Serve unadorned, or top with passion fruit seeds (if ...

Add sugar and lemon juice, stirring until evenly mixed. Split vanilla bean pod lengthwise; scrape seeds with the back of a paring knife. Add seeds and vanilla pod halves to fruit mixture.

The same goes for the freshly scraped vanilla seeds: Feel free to use vanilla extract if fresh beans are not available where you shop. You can typically use around 1 tablespoon of extract in place ...

Amaretto syrup: Put the sugar, vanilla bean, and 1 cup cold water in a small ... vanilla extract, and vanilla seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.