Preparation  Cut the bean in half, split it lengthwise with a knife, and scrape the seeds into the liquid. If you can let the liquid steep a few minutes before cooking, even better. Throw in the skin of the bean too. The inner seed mass of the vanilla bean has the most flavor, but the skin has some too. Just remember to pull the skin out (scrape off any remaining seeds into the liquid) before the dessert is baked or frozen. The inner seeds of one vanilla bean can also add amazing flavor to desserts such as cheesecake; split the bean, scrape out the seeds and add them to the batter.