How very vanilla.

[Sofar]

If I want a chocolate shake, I want it made with CHOCOLATE. I can taste the vanilla.

Trust me. IT WILL TASTE WEIRD WITHOUT THE VANILLA. Vanilla is in everything chocolate that you eat. Even Hershey's chocolate syrup. Who's the cook here, huh?

[BookstoreEscapee]

Did you ever eat unsweetened baking chocolate, or straight cocoa powder? It is not sweet at all. The only reason we love chocolate so much is that it has a ton of sugar added. If they didn't add sugar we'd hate it. The "original" chocolate drink (Mayas? Aztecs?) is probably not something too many people today would be interested in drinking.

On that note, if you like rich chocolate, try Haagen Dasz (sp?) Mayan Chocolate ice cream. It is really rich, a spoonful or two is enough. Chocolate ice cream with cinnamon and a fudge swirl. Hershey's also makes a Mayan Blend and an Aztec Blend hot chocolate mix. They are not overly sweet and have a bit of spice added. Beats Swiss Miss any day!

[Bella_Vixen]

Trust me. IT WILL TASTE WEIRD WITHOUT THE VANILLA. Vanilla is in everything chocolate that you eat. Even Hershey's chocolate syrup. Who's the cook here, huh?

I was trying to say that the local custard place makes "chocolate" shakes with vanilla custard and chocolate syrup, and I can taste the vanilla, so I ask them to make mine with chocolate custard.

That is all.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Had a friend rave about my iced tea. It was smooth, rich, and complex. Same with my coffee. "How come my iced tea doesnt' taste like that? I buy the same brand."

Cuz he wasn't putting vanilla extract in it. Just a couple drops to the pitcher, you shouldn't even be consious of tasting it. Same with the coffee.

Vanilla goes into everything. Cakes, cookies, all ice creams regardless of the flavors. Probably most sherberts. All puddings, regardless of flavor. Used this way, it is used as a boost, not a flavor.

What a bunch of maroons. "It will taste weird." You're right, this is like a bunch of children.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I was trying to say that the local custard place makes "chocolate" shakes with vanilla custard and chocolate syrup, and I can taste the vanilla, so I ask them to make mine with chocolate custard.

That is all.

When I worked at my college's little fast-food-ish place, we made chocolate shakes with chocolate ice cream and chocolate milk, vanilla shakes with vanilla and regular milk, and "black and white" shakes with vanilla ice cream and chocolate milk (or vice versa, if the customer asked, but then you end up with just a slightly less chocolatey chocolate shake because there's no vanilla).

Then again, the OP mentioned that the "ice cream" they use is not flavored at all. So the vanilla syrup would just add sweetness to balance out the chocolate. My senior year in college we got a little Friendly's ice cream station; we always had chocolate and vanilla, and one other flavor that varied (usually mint chip) and Fribble Mix, which is just unflavored ice milk. The Fribbles are made with that and flavored syrup (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, or coffee, at the time, at least). I used to make myself chocolate-cherry Fribbles - I would add a couple spoonfuls of maraschino cherries...yum! I also used to use orange juice and vanilla ice cream with a dash of vanilla extract to make a creamsicle shake. Add some sugar and you get more of an Orange Julius flavor.

[Becks]

I use real vanilla extract, and add it to french toast, and the kids love it. It just adds that extra something.

Oh, that's so true!!!!!!

Now I want French toast.

[Mighty Girl]

Clearly these are people who have never baked in their life. Otherwise, they'd think anything you put vanilla extract into will taste like vanilla.

Side note, I LOVE the smell of vanilla. My husband's parents brought us back a bottle of real vanilla from their last trip- can't remember where they went. It was SO MUCH BETTER than the crap they sell here, it smelled perfect. Now everything else seems substandard.

[Eireann]

Oh please. Oh please. Oh please.

This is a pet peeve of mine; I realize that there are far better issues to be concerned with, but I can't help it.

It's NOT "sherbert". It's SHERBET.

Sher-bet. It comes from the Arabic, "sharbat". Only one "r".

And, having thrown that little tizzy, I know from countless chocolate recipes that vanilla goes into everything. It just wouldn't be the same without the vanilla!

[Dawnchaser]

On that note, if you like rich chocolate, try Haagen Dasz (sp?) Mayan Chocolate ice cream. It is really rich, a spoonful or two is enough. Chocolate ice cream with cinnamon and a fudge swirl. Hershey's also makes a Mayan Blend and an Aztec Blend hot chocolate mix. They are not overly sweet and have a bit of spice added. Beats Swiss Miss any day!

Oh Mayan Chocolate is the best thing ever...well, maybe a tie between that and the Godiva chocolate w/ raspberry truffle. (Do they still make that? Haven't seen it lately.)

Albertson's has a generic Mayan Chocolate that's also really good. Not quite as good as the Haagen Dasz, but very close, surprisingly.

I'll have to try the hot chocolate mix...

[air914]

Obviously these people have never baked a cookie in their lives.... um choc. chip cookies???? HELLO! It's on the package that you add vanilla! That's just the most basic recipe I can think of that MOST people will have made at one point in their lives.... of course, I guess that pre-made cookie dough is what everyone has turned to now <sigh>

Btw - the vanilla imitation crap you get at the grocery store is a waste product of paper factories (see below). Buy the real vanilla. It's a little more expensive, but it's worth it. And you can get it in small sizes, so the cost isn't too bad.

From: http://www.vanilla.com/html/facts-extracts.html
The two most common sources for synthetic vanillin have been Lignin Vanillin, a by-product of the paper industry, which has been chemically treated to resemble the taste of pure vanilla extract, and Ethyl Vanillin, which is a coal-tar derivative and frequently far stronger than either Lignin Vanillin or pure vanilla.

In the 1930s, the Ontario Paper Company, was struggling with the sulphite liquor, a by-product of paper making, which was polluting local streams near their plant. Company chemists realized it could be turned into synthetic vanillin, a viable but curious ecological solution to a big problem. If you grew up on synthetics, imitation vanilla will be a familiar flavor for you. Given the fact that vanilla isn't that expensive, you might consider learning to enjoy the real deal.

[Sofar]

Btw - the vanilla imitation crap you get at the grocery store is a waste product of paper factories (see below). Buy the real vanilla. It's a little more expensive, but it's worth it. And you can get it in small sizes, so the cost isn't too bad.

I agree real vanilla is delicious and we do use it, but I'd like to take this oppurtunity to point out that artificial flavor isn't the beast it's made out to be. Ethyl proponate tastes like strawberries because strawberries have ethyl proponate in them. We just figured out ethyl proponate is what gives strawberries their flavor and figured out a way to make it without strawberries.

[Fera Festiva]

Did you ever eat unsweetened baking chocolate, or straight cocoa powder? It is not sweet at all. The only reason we love chocolate so much is that it has a ton of sugar added. If they didn't add sugar we'd hate it. The "original" chocolate drink (Mayas? Aztecs?) is probably not something too many people today would be interested in drinking.

I've tasted something along the lines of that drink (I went on a tour of the Cadbury factory - part of the tour is a history of chocolate production, and you get to taste stuff). Absolutely nothing like chocolate that comes in a bar, but pretty tasty. It has chili and cinnamon in it. Weird, but good.

Fera's tip of the day: put a few squares of a good bitter or dark chocolate in chili con carne. It's really yummy.

[Cia]

A chocolate shake w/o a touch of vanilla doesn't taste right. Vanilla enhances the flavor of chocolate. Some people shouldn't be allowed out of the house w/o minders.

[mariamousie1]

When I make a chocolate milkshake at home, I use vanilla ice cream and add Nestle's Quik chocolate syrup. Strange that these people have never used vanilla ice cream to make their own milkshake.

[Andara Bledin]

Vanilla goes into everything. Cakes, cookies, all ice creams regardless of the flavors. Probably most sherberts. All puddings, regardless of flavor. Used this way, it is used as a boost, not a flavor.

Mmmm.... vanilla....

Side note, I LOVE the smell of vanilla.

Mmmm.... vanilla.... Vanilla is my super #2 favorite scent, ever. Second only to the scent of bubble gum. I have vanilla body spray, and vanilla musk perfume sticks, and vanilla scented candles. If anyone wanted to seduce me, they'd use vanilla scented everything.

This is a pet peeve of mine; I realize that there are far better issues to be concerned with, but I can't help it.

It's NOT "sherbert". It's SHERBET.

Heh. Beat me to it. I don't know where people got the idea of saying "sherbert" but it most likely has to do with the first syllable having an "er" so the tendancy is to give the second syllable an "er" as well.

Sherbet is derived from the Arabic for drink, and is the same root from which we get syrup.

^-.-^