Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean: A Christmas Scent and Cake to Match

Some scents announce the season. Vanilla settles into it. It’s the note that drifts from the kitchen when something’s in the oven, lingers in a room long after the last guest has left, and makes a home feel properly lived-in over the holidays.

This Christmas, al.ive body’s limited-edition Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean scent brings a warm, indulgent note to the home. Discover it across the Transformative Bathroom Duo in the rich Chocolate colourway, alongside the Soy Candle and Reed Diffuser, each designed to carry the scent throughout the season.

And because a fragrance this gourmand deserves something on the table to match, we’ve paired it with a rustic vanilla bean cream cake that tastes the way the room smells.

Sweet, Creamy and Warm, by Design

Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean is a rich, gourmand fragrance led by velvety vanilla cream, warmed by a background of cacao and lifted by the soft, buttery richness of tonka bean. It settles into a smooth base of sandalwood, amber and sweet musk, so it reads warm and rounded rather than sugary, and holds its own through long December evenings, from the first gift wrapped to the last slice of cake on Boxing Day.

The Chocolate colourway is its visual counterpart: a deep, warm brown that brings richness to a space without competing with everything else the season brings out.

One Scent, Three Ways Through the Home

Layering a single fragrance from room to room is the simplest way to make a home feel considered when guests walk in. Here’s where each piece belongs:

• Transformative Bathroom Duo – a 500ml Hand & Body Wash and 500ml Hand & Body Lotion on a matching tray. Each bottle is printed on both sides, with standard lettering on one face and bronze on the other, and comes with both a standard and a bronze pump, so you can turn the bottle or swap the pump to change the look. The Wash is made with Aloe Vera Juice, Tonka Bean Seed Butter and Vanilla Fruit Extract, while the Lotion brings Shea Butter, Sweet Almond Oil and Cocoa Seed Butter to the mix. Designed to sit beautifully on a powder room vanity, it gives guests a more elevated hand washing and lotion experience while adding a considered finishing touch to the space.
• Soy Candle – 330g of hand-poured soy and coconut wax with a lead-free cotton wick, in a double-walled frosted glass vessel, with up to 70 hours of burn time. Light it as the table is set, then style it on the dining table, kitchen bench or coffee table to fill the room with the warm scent.
• Reed Diffuser – 250ml with five natural reeds for continuous, low-maintenance fragrance over several months. No flame, no fuss, ideal for an entryway as guests walk in, or living room.

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Soy CandleVanilla Cream & Tonka Bean • 330g

Sale price$59.00

Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean Apricot & Sweet Fig Mango & Lychee Raspberry Blossom & Juniper Sea Cotton & Coconut Willow Gum & Lemon Myrtle Coconut & Wild Orange

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Transformative Bathroom DuoLimited Edition Hand & Body Wash and LotionVanilla Cream & Tonka Bean

Sale price$89.00

Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean Mango & Lychee Sea Cotton & Coconut Apricot & Sweet Fig Raspberry Blossom & Juniper Willow Gum & Lemon Myrtle Coconut & Wild Orange

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Reed DiffuserVanilla Cream & Tonka Bean • 250ml

Sale price$59.00

Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean Mango & Lychee Sea Cotton & Coconut Apricot & Sweet Fig Raspberry Blossom & Juniper Willow Gum & Lemon Myrtle Coconut & Wild Orange

All three are limited edition and arrive in gift-ready packaging, which makes them just as easy to give as they are to keep.

A Cake That Smells Like the Season

Our rustic vanilla bean cream cake is two layers high and made for the centre of the table: tender vanilla sponge brushed with vanilla syrup, filled and coated with a speckled mascarpone cream, and finished with whole vanilla pods. A generous amount of vanilla bean paste gives the cream its heavy specks, a quiet nod to the fragrance it’s paired with.

The finish is deliberately imperfect. Soft swirls on top, a thin coat on the sides so the cake shows through, and no scraper required.

Rustic Vanilla Bean Cream Cake

A two-layer vanilla cake with a speckled vanilla bean cream filling and rustic swirled coat, topped with vanilla pods. Makes one 18cm cake.

Vanilla cake

• 330g plain flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 300g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
• 240ml milk, at room temperature

Vanilla syrup

• 50g caster sugar
• 60ml water
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Vanilla bean cream

• 500ml thickened cream
• 250g mascarpone
• 100g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
• 3 vanilla pods, to decorate

Make the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C fan-forced (180°C conventional) with a rack in the middle. Grease and line the base and sides of two deep 18cm round cake tins with baking paper.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat the butter and caster sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the vanilla bean paste.
4. On low speed, add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk in two, starting and finishing with the flour. Mix until just combined.
5. Divide the batter between the tins and smooth the tops. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until golden, springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs. If the tops brown too quickly, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
6. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely, about 1 hour. Warm cake will melt the cream.

Make the syrup

7. Stir the sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool, then stir in the vanilla bean paste.

Make the vanilla bean cream

8. In a chilled bowl, whip the cream, mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste until soft-firm peaks form. Stop as soon as it holds its shape.

Assemble

9. Level the cakes if domed. Place one layer on your cake stand, brush with syrup and spread with a thick, generous layer of cream. Top with the second layer upside down for a flat top, then brush with the remaining syrup.
10. Chill for at least 1 hour, until the filling has chilled.
11. Spread the remaining cream over the top and sides with a palette knife, then drag the knife across the top in soft swirls. Keep the sides thin so the cake shows through, or go thicker for full coverage.
12. Lay the vanilla pods across the top. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Notes

• Using 20cm tins? Bake for 30-35 minutes. The cake will be slightly wider and shorter.
• Ovens vary, so go by the skewer test rather than the clock.
• Keep refrigerated and serve within 2 days, taking it out about 20 minutes before slicing.
• The vanilla pods are for decoration only, so remove them before eating.

Vanilla, From the Bathroom to the Table

The best holiday moments are rarely one big gesture. They’re built in layers: the candle lit before the doorbell rings, the diffuser quietly working in the hallway, a bathroom that feels finished when guests duck in, and a cake that smells exactly like the room it’s served in.

Find Vanilla Cream & Tonka Bean across the Transformative Bathroom Duo, Soy Candle and Reed Diffuser, here for the holidays in limited edition.

Vanilla, it turns out, is best served twice.