A trip to the market and a sweet treat

Last Wednesday we visited my parents in St Albans. I try to go on Wednesdays or Saturdays because those are the market days in St Albans. I love a shopping trip to the market and I've found it's the best place to buy fruit and veg, herbs and spices, flowers, fabric, eggs, fresh fish, all sorts of things... Today I bought some vanilla pods and used them to make vanilla sugar to use in cakes and custards. I thought I'd share it with you in case you fancy a little domestic dabbling, or need a last minute homemade gift for any bakers you know!

That's it: sugar, jar, vanilla, done! It is so simple I don't think you can really call it a recipe. The longer you leave it the more the vanilla flavour will infuse, so I am going to put mine in the cupboard for a while to mature. And the best thing is, apparently you can take the pods out, infuse them in liquid (for example when warming milk for custards and sauces - or wouldn't that make the best hot chocolate?) and afterwards you can take them out, wash them and return them to the jar.

 You can make all sorts of other flavoured sugars, like lavender or lemon - I might try a few more experiments... I'm so excited to try my vanilla sugar out - maybe in baby Joe's birthday cake. I hope you enjoy this little mini project. Do you have a great street market near you that you like to shop at? Or maybe you even have your own stall?

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