Do you know the difference between evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk? Sugar. Yep, sweetened equals sugar. In fact the sweetened product is just plain ol’ evaporated milk without the sugar added. But what exactly is either of them?……………
Evaporated milk: A nonsweetened milk product made from whole milk from which 60% of the water has been evaporated; it is then sterilized and canned, resulting in a cooked flavor and darker color. It must contain at least 7.25% milkfat and 25.5% milk solids.
Sweetened condensed milk: A thick, sweet, slightly caramel-flavored milk product and made from sweetened whole milk from which 60% of the water has been evaporated, usually sold canned. It cannot generally be substituted for whole or evaporated milk because of the sugar; also known as condensed milk.
You can use evaporated milk in place of whole milk in some recipes; mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese for example. Try adding evaporated milk to coffee or tea. Add it to bread recipes, or make a basic white sauce for your pasta night. You can also add an equal amount of water to the evaporated milk and use it just as you would regular milk. I personally use evaporated milk for my macaroni and cheese sauce and coconut pecan icing for my German Chocolate cake recipe.
Sweetened condensed milk is commonly used for baking. Pumpkin and key lime filling for pies; magic cookie bars, which I plan to make tomorrow! You could also make some sweet sauces and/or fondues for fun GNO’s (Girls Night Out).
I have long heard of sweetened condensed milk magically being turned into caramel with itself and heat being the only ingredients. This is and experiment that I want to try on the stove top and by crock pot. You can try it on a plain white or yellow layer cake to make it an infamous caramel cake or frost a brown sugar pound cake once it has cooled. Or even better gobble some of it up while it’s still warm. Oh and don’t forget the ice-cream!
*definitions for condensed milk and sweetened condensed milk were taken from Webster’s New World Dictionary of Culinary Arts, by Steven Labensky, Gaye G. Ingram, and Sarah R. Labensky. (c)1997 Prentice Hall
Talking with my Mouthful of Food 