Vanilla Sugar

Who doesn't like cake? I certainly do. Or at least I do now, I was a strange child who didn't really develop a sweet tooth until I was about 12-13. 

I'd love to say that I'm one of those people who bakes a couple of times a week, loving packing my husband's lunch box with homemade chocolate brownies but I'm not. However, when I do make cakes I like to think that I'm pretty good at it. 

My secret ingredient in most desserts or baking is vanilla sugar.

I don't spend lots of money on buying it from the shops, I make it myself. It's easy and almost totally effort free, which is good when you have as little time as I seem to.

You just need a big jar, some sugar and a vanilla pod. In fact I use the left over shell from when I scrape the seeds out of a pod. All I do is put the vanilla pod shell and sugar in a jar and leave it for a week or two. 

I don't only use it in baking, I also like to sprinkle it on my porridge and mix it into tea. Delicious!