Vanilla

In a taste test of Nielsen-Massey, Heilala, McCormick, and more, which vanilla reigned supreme?

Plus, how do they extract it—and what’s the deal with the imitation stuff?

This oversized crème brûlée is far easier to make than individual ones. The crackly top is created from sugar caramelized with a blowtorch, not a broiler.

It's like eating a pumpkin-spiced cloud.

This showstopper has confetti cake layers, vanilla and strawberry ice cream, and rainbow sprinkles. Let’s party.

Vanilla ice cream, espresso-spiked fudge, and lots (and lots) of chocolate cookie crunchies.

All you need are fresh beans and cheap booze to make an ultra-flavorful extract at a fraction of the cost.

This homemade cream cheese frosting can be used to add a pleasantly sweet and tangy note to almost any cupcake, layer cake, or any recipe that calls for buttercream.

A whole vanilla bean takes this supremely creamy, wonderfully rich, classic New York–style cheesecake to pro-level.

Free yourself from individual ramekins for a large-format, party-friendly version. (It jiggles!)

A smidge of almond extract delivers a boost of flavor to our best vanilla cake recipe, and the cream cheese buttercream frosting takes it over the top.

The secret ingredient in this recipe for ultra-silky flan is cream cheese. It adds richness and stability to the custard dessert so that unmolding is a breeze.

This hassle-free version of delicate mille feuille comes together quickly thanks to store bought puff pastry and a quicker alternative to pastry cream.

Creamy pudding, fluffy whipped cream, crunchy wafers, and juicy summer berries. It’s the best of banana pudding, without the soggy brown bananas.

We did away with the worst part of roasting squash—the prep! Instead, we roast it whole until tender, tear it into big pieces, glaze it, and roast it again.

A French toast walks into a waffle iron and leaves crispier, custardy, and full of nooks and crannies perfect for catching an all too simple caramel sauce. 

Combine perfectly ripe, in-season stone fruit (like peaches, plums, or cherries!) with a rich sweet caramel for the perfect ice cream, pound cake, and yogurt topping.

Extremely plush, fine-crumbed, and dare-we-say moist, this is like the best wedding cake—and you mix it entirely by hand.

Cucumbers are transformed into candy-like bites in this unexpected dessert inspired by Eton mess, a British summer classic typically featuring layers of strawberries, broken meringue, and whipped cream. 

Why have a chocolate- or vanilla-flavored concha when you can have both in this New York–inspired twist on the classic Mexican sweet bread?

White conchas may look plain, but with a boost of high-quality vanilla, they’re unexpectedly flavorful.

Vanilla seems to be in every baking recipe. But why's it there? And where did it come from? 

A showstopping tequila-soaked vanilla cake with sweet mango curd filling.

Some chocolate cakes can be overwhelmingly intense, but this one manages to feel light and balanced, with no single component dominating the others.