Add flavor!

Always use pure flavoring extracts in your baking (especially important in uncooked fillings and frostings, where the fake odor of vanillin will be obvious). There are lots of pure extracts available aside from vanilla: lemon, orange, anise, almond and peppermint are easy to find in your supermarket.

Next time you bake sugar cookies, white frosting or yellow cake, jazz it up with some flavor. If your recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla, use ½ teaspoon of vanilla and ½ teaspoon of lemon or orange extract. Then add the grated rind of a lemon or orange to really punch up the citrus taste. Or, next time you bake a white layer cake, use half vanilla and half almond extract in the batter, then sandwich the layers together with raspberry jam. Frost with vanilla or chocolate icing and slap some sliced almonds around the sides of the layers: classic and delicious.