# Brit Dopers: Vanilla sugar - what is?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 1, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257 "2007-04-01T02:09:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Montgomery0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montgomery0)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/21 "2007-04-01T13:28:31Z")
For cheapskates:
On a side note, you can make really strong vanilla sugar by saving your used vanilla beans (after you make pastry cream for example.) Wash them well and dry them on top of your oven or some place warm for a week or so. When they are done, they should be extremely hard (like coffee bean hard.) Pulse them in a coffee bean grinder and pass it through a very fine sifter and add the powder to some sugar. Use where ever you use regular sugar (but you want vanilla flavor.)
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/22 "2007-04-01T13:36:28Z")
[QUOTE=DMark]
> [@jimm](#):
>
> Possibly caster sugar? In between powdered sugar (which we call “icing sugar”) and regular (which we call “granulated”).
.Like Eskimos that have hundreds of words for snow, I have to admit - this is a new one…never knew there were other variations of sugar granules! All hail the Brits for discovering it!
[/QUOTE]
I think here in North America, the equivalent of caster sugar is “berry sugar”, which is inbetween icing sugar and granulated.
I get confused on some cooking terms, because some Canadian sources use American terms, and some use British terms.
And don’t get me started on the British custom of weighing everything, instead of going by volume … I had to get a kitchen scale just to try some of the receipes I’m experimenting with. Fortunately, I was able to obtain a very accurate one second-hand, that passed inspection from Canada Weights and Measures in 1966 - says so, right on the inpsection label. So I know my 2 oz is really 2 oz. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/23 "2007-04-01T14:41:41Z")
[QUOTE=clairobscur]
yummm…lemon curd… A shame it’s not sold over here…
[/QUOTE]
Luckily, it’s [really simple to make,](http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/104568) and the homemade stuff is far superior to anything you can buy in a jar.
(Too good, in fact - the first time I made it, I think I went through the whole batch on toast within a 36-hour period.)
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### Author:  [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/24 "2007-04-01T16:38:14Z")
Is there some reason why, in a recipe that calls for vanilla sugar, you couldn’t just use regular sugar and add a bit of vanilla to the recipe? 'Cause that’s what I’d do…which is probably why just about every time I try to bake I regret it.
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### Author:  [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/25 "2007-04-01T18:49:47Z")
[QUOTE=DMark]
Then I humbly await a Brit to explain what if “superfiner” than powdered sugar - honey?
[/QUOTE]
I don’t see anywhere that implies that “superfine” means finer than powdered. I would assume it just means finer than regular granulated.
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### Author:  [@jlrepka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jlrepka)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/26 "2007-04-01T21:45:59Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat]
I don’t see anywhere that implies that “superfine” means finer than powdered. I would assume it just means finer than regular granulated.
[/QUOTE]
I noticed a couple of years ago that supermarkets out here on the left coast have begun carrying “baker’s sugar,” which is just a finer version of granulated sugar. 'twould be quite easy to manufacture in a blender or processer though. I’m sure I’ve seen Alton do it…
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### Author:  [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/27 "2007-04-01T21:56:01Z")
I hear you can make vanilla sugar by splitting a vanilla bean lengthwise, scraping out the seeds, then storing it in a container with sugar at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, for 20 minutes.
(In 1960.)
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### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/28 "2007-04-01T21:58:44Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper]
Is that British English for “berry sugar”, or is it sugar that actually has vanilla flavour added?
[/QUOTE]
What’s berry sugar?
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/29 "2007-04-01T22:15:19Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
What’s berry sugar?
[/QUOTE]
Berry sugar is superfine sugar. [Domino’s](http://www.dominosugar.com/products/superfine.asp) is the brand I’m most familiar with in the US. It melts more quickly than granulated. It’s frequently used to coat berries and other small fruits in a hard sugar glaze.
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/30 "2007-04-01T22:22:45Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
What’s berry sugar?
[/QUOTE]
Berry sugar is a form of sugar that does not require splitting a vanilla bean lengthwise, scraping out the seeds, then storing it in an airtight container for a couple of weeks.
Seriously, the differences between all these various types of sugars are set out on this page: [FoodSubs: Sugars: Ingredient Substitutions and Ingredient Synonyms](http://www.foodsubs.com/Sweeten.html)
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### Author:  [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-dopers-vanilla-sugar-what-is/398257/31 "2007-04-02T04:14:50Z")
We just need someone to come along and make a joke about splitting a 1920s-style death ray lengthways… 🙂
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