Five Star Chef Gourmet Vanilla Paste, 32 Fluid Ounce - Rich & Aromatic Bean Paste for Baking, Desserts, and Beverages – Intense Flavor with Real Specks – Perfect for Cakes, Cookies, Ice Cream & More

This is a great alternative for pure vanilla bean paste at a fraction of the cost. The taste and smell will bring out the best in all your baking and cooking needs. It comes in a large bottle that barely fit in my cupboard so I just add it to a smaller bottle for ease of use. It is easy to use as an exact exchange of any vanilla in your recipe and provide a great outcome to any product.

This is exactly what I had hoped it would be. I had ordered some 4 oz bottles of a major brand before that for 1/2 the price of this 32 oz bottle, so this was a deal when I bought it at about $24.00 last year 2023. I believe it has gone up $6-8.00 in a year, but it is thick and gives my baking a lot of flavour. Thank you.

I have been using this vanilla bean paste for the desserts that I sell at my business for years. Unfortunately, their quality control is lacking. I had to order and call for a refund twice because it arrived fermented. When I finally received a bottle I could use, I could tell the quality is not the same. The texture is more viscous and there is a dramatic decrease in the amount of vanilla bean as well as more chemical smell. I need to use more of this product and add a concentrated vanilla bean paste along with it to achieve the same results before the decrease in quality.

The vanilla paste has a great consistency and fabulous flavor. I will use this more often than planned due to the wonderful flavor it has.

This is my second bottle of this vanilla. Upon checking the ingredients I discovered it is not pure vanilla. It has sugar, a thickener and other things in there. I have bought other vanilla pastes and they did not have these extra ingredients.

For the price, this product is a steal. I've come to accept the fact that I will probably always use pastes to add caviar and extracts or emulsions to add flavor. It's cheaper than buying beans to add caviar and honestly, it keeps longer. Beans can dehydrate or even get moldy if stored improperly. A paste like this takes all the worry out of proper storage and honestly, will last a really long time. For flavor I'd say it's just meh but honestly, most pastes would get that reaction from me. The conclusion I've come to is that pastes are really just thickened solutions to suspend caviar with sugar, thickeners and some extract added. I've started using pastes in addition to extracts and emulsions to get the flavor I want in what I'm making. I'll use extracts if I'm not baking and emulsions if I am. I have yet to try vanilla bean powder but I hear it's one of the most potent ways to add vanilla flavor. This is still a great value just don't expect it to give a strong vanilla flavor in your items. I actually tried it straight yesterday and I was like...yeah...mostly sugar. But that's ok because the caviar is gorgeous and looks great in ice creams, custards, candies like marshmallow etc... Plus it is adding some flavor just not a ton.

I love the flavor and versatility of this product.

This is comparatively cheaper than Nielsen Massey brands while still enjoyable. Never tried the more expensive brands but absolutely love Five Star Chef Gourmet Vanilla Paste. I use it on my oats, pancakes, and baking/cooking while enjoying the tasteful and aromatic benefits. A couple of tablespoons is all I use on my oats and/or pancakes and my addiction keeps this on my pantry shelf. Christmas cookies are out of this world when using this vanilla paste. Such a sweet smelling and tasting delight you can cook up.