Vanilla Extract vs Vanilla Essence
What’s the difference?
A simple guide to flavour, ingredients and value in your baking
Vanilla extract and vanilla essence might sit next to each other on the supermarket shelf, but they are quite different products.
Both can add vanilla flavour to your baking, but natural vanilla extract is made from real vanilla beans, giving it a more authentic, rich and rounded vanilla flavour. Because the flavour is fuller and more concentrated, you may also find that you need less extract to achieve the flavour you are looking for.
If your budget allows, we would always choose a good-quality natural vanilla extract. It delivers the complex flavour and aroma of real vanilla beans, rather than simply adding a generic vanilla note.
How do they compare?
Why the difference matters
Real vanilla is about more than one flavour note.
What is vanilla extract & What is Vanillin?
Vanilla extract is made using real vanilla beans. The beans are extracted into a liquid, capturing the naturally occurring flavour and aroma compounds that give vanilla its distinctive taste and smell.
One of these compounds is vanillin, which is primarily responsible for vanilla's familiar sweet, warm aroma and flavour. However, real vanilla is about much more than just vanillin. Vanilla beans contain hundreds of naturally occurring compounds that work together to create the rich, rounded and complex flavour we know and love.
Vanillin can also be produced synthetically and is commonly used in artificial vanilla flavourings and essences. While these may provide a recognisable vanilla flavour, they generally lack the depth and complexity found in genuine vanilla extract.
At Vanilla Etc, we make our extracts using premium Madagascan vanilla beans. Our traditional extracts use ethanol to extract the natural flavour and aroma compounds and are available in Half Fold, 1 Fold and 2 Fold strengths.
We also produce an Alcohol-Free Vanilla Extract, which uses glycerine instead of alcohol to extract the wonderful flavour of real vanilla beans.
What is vanilla essence?
The term vanilla essence is commonly used for vanilla flavourings which may be made using flavouring compounds rather than by extracting real vanilla beans.
Many rely heavily on vanillin, including synthetic or nature-identical vanillin, or ethyl vanillin, to create a recognisable vanilla taste and aroma.
Vanillin doesn't necessarily have to come from a vanilla bean either. It can be produced from a number of other sources, including materials derived from the wood-pulp industry.
Vanilla essence can provide a vanilla flavour, although it may have a simpler flavour profile than genuine vanilla extract.
So, can you actually taste the difference?
We think so - particularly when vanilla is an important flavour in the recipe.
Vanilla essence tends to provide a simpler, more straightforward vanilla flavour.
Natural vanilla extract gives you far more depth. Instead of one dominant vanilla note, you get the combination of naturally occurring aromatic compounds within the bean, creating a flavour that is richer, rounder and more complex.
You'll notice the difference most in recipes such as ice cream, custard, cheesecake, buttercream, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and confectionery - anywhere that vanilla has a chance to shine.
Is vanilla extract worth the extra cost?
For us, yes - if your budget allows.
Vanilla essence is cheaper, but when flavour matters, a good natural extract brings depth, aroma and complexity.
Vanilla essence is cheaper and there are applications where a basic vanilla flavour may be all you need. But if you've spent time and money choosing good-quality ingredients for a cake, dessert or batch of biscuits, we think it makes sense to use real vanilla too.
A good vanilla extract isn't simply about making something taste of vanilla. It brings depth, aroma and complexity that a basic flavouring can't necessarily replicate.
So when vanilla is an important part of your recipe, our choice is simple:
Choose the real thing.
A visual comparison of genuine vanilla extract and vanilla essence/flavouring.
Made in West Yorkshire using Madagascan vanilla beans.
