The scent of vanilla always evokes for me memories of my childhood; guzzling ice cream cornets on the beach at Barry Island. I seem to use vanilla so often though, these days, that it has become an essential part of my own kitchen. So when I was recently offered the opportunity by the folks at Quirk Books to review Shauna Sever's latest book, Pure Vanilla , I jumped at it. Shauna is a blogger-come-cookbook-writer, blogging at Piece Of Cake , whose first offering, Marshmallow Madness, was one I snapped up after reading some very delicious sounding blog posts about it. Pure Vanilla is her second book, and explores the beautiful and complex spice 'from orchid to extract'. It's a fascinating insight into something I must admit, have grown complacent over, as it's fairly easy to obtain good quality vanilla extract on your supermarket shelves, even if the price can make you wince. But when you discover just how vanilla is produced, from the pollination
because everyone deserves a little sweetness in their life