The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Flavoring for baking

greywolf85's picture
greywolf85

Flavoring for baking

Hello,

One time I gotta scone from Acme and that scone had an amazing "vanilla like - but not vanilla" smell to it. I'm trying to figure out if any of you would know what that smell was so that I can buy it and use it when I bake goods.

Also, could you guys recommend some baking flavorings/oils as well?

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

non-sweetened baked goods:

just a bit of rye flour, just a bit of amaranth flour,  some diastatic malt flour or powder to let the flour make it's own sugars, ground flax seeds, ground chia seeds, a little bit of 100% whole wheat flour from _red_ wheat. Maybe a tablespoon of coconut flour per loaf.  sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, pumpkin seeds, fennel seed, anise seed.  Sesame seeds, toasted sesame seeds. A little teff flour, a little yellow corn flour or corn meal.

sweetened baked goods, such as muffins, cookies, scones:

The sky's the limit.  I like pumpkin spice seasoning, or any combo of its normal constituents: cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, ground cloves, ginger (lots of ginger).  Ground flaxseeds, or ground chia in muffins is good. -- black strap molasses. -- grapeseed oil, coconut oil, peanut oil, ghee (clarified butter) -- dried/candied fruit, fresh or frozen blueberries.  Liquid anise flavoring.  Fennel seed. Anise seed. 

BaniJP's picture
BaniJP

The closest I can think of is tonka bean, it's fairly cheap and has a "like vanilla, but not vanilla" smell to it. It fits well into baked goods, but even better into sweet creams like crème brûlée, pastry cream, vanilla sauce and so on.

 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

WHo would have thought. I never heard of tonka beans and was intrigued so I asked Mr. Google about them. Turns out they are banned in the US for use in food (ok in cosmetics and perfume) due to their possible toxicity but delicious flavor). he substance (coumarin) can cause liver damage in small amounts in most people and animals but is very bad in a small subset of people that have different enzymes that make the substance lethal instead of deactivating it.

My vote goes to freshly ground cardamom and coriander. I considered coriander my new vanilla substitute when vanilla prices skyrocketed.