Generality
Condensed milk is a food made from cow's milk to which a considerable portion of water has been removed.
Sweetened condensed milk is very dense and has an extremely sweet taste; due to these characteristics, if stored hermetically in a box, it can reach a shelf life of up to several years. On the other hand, unsweetened condensed milk has a greater tendency to deteriorate, which is why it is a slightly less widespread product.
Condensed milk is used for the formulation of numerous desserts and is practically widespread throughout the world.
Other preserved milk-based products are: evaporated milk, freeze-dried milk, powdered milk and milk flour.
Production
The production of condensed milk takes place from raw cow's milk. This is lightened, standardized and heated to 85-90 ° C (185-194 ° F) for a few seconds. The heating process serves to destroy most of the microorganisms, to reduce the tendency to separate fats and to inhibit the overall oxidation.
Once a certain percentage of water has evaporated, sugar is added at a ratio of 9:11. This last ingredient prolongs the conservation of the food, as it tends to increase the osmotic pressure of the liquid, preventing the growth of microorganisms.
NB. The sweetened evaporated milk is produced by further cooling and dehydrating the compound, thus promoting the crystallization of lactose.
Homemade condensed milk
X Problems with video playback? Reload from YouTube Go to Video Page Go to Video Recipes Section Watch the video on youtubeNutritional Features
Sweetened condensed milk is a very energetic food, with a caloric prevalence attributable to carbohydrates, followed by lipids and finally proteins.
Carbohydrates tend to be simple, disaccharide type; among these, the majority is made up of added sucrose, while the minor fraction is represented by lactose; the fiber is absent.
Lipids, on the other hand, are mainly made up of triglycerides having saturated fatty acids; cholesterol appears to be present but not in alarming quantities.
Peptides have a high biological value, meaning they have a pool of essential amino acids very similar to that of human proteins.
From the saline point of view, sweetened condensed milk provides excellent amounts of potassium, phosphorus and calcium. As far as vitamins are concerned, excellent concentrations of riboflavin (vit. B2) and retinol equivalent (vit. A) are inferred.
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Sweetened condensed milk is not a food that lends itself to contemporary food and is to be considered as a real dessert. The calorie intake is very high and makes it a completely unsuitable product for the overweight person.
Furthermore, the considerable concentration of added sucrose makes condensed milk a food unsuitable for clinical nutrition due to hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia.
As far as lipids are concerned, this product certainly does not enjoy a good distribution of fatty acids and should be taken sparingly by people suffering from dyslipidemia linked to cholesterol levels in the blood.
Sweetened condensed milk is to be avoided in those who suffer from lactose intolerance and from those who manifest an allergy to cow's milk proteins; however, it does not contain gluten and can be part of the celiac diet.
Sweetened condensed milk lends itself to vegetarian ovo but not vegan milk nutrition. Used as a substitute for jam / marmalade or sweet spreads, it can help raise calcium levels in the diet.
Uses of Condensed Milk
Condensed milk is used in many sweet recipes from various countries around the world.
For example, it appears in the recipe of the famous Brazilian candy brigadeiro, in the key lime pie, in caramel candies and in other snacks.
When a jar of sweetened condensed milk is topped up with water (covering all the remaining space) and simmered for two or three hours, the contents turn into Dulce de Leche .
In parts of Asia and Europe, sweetened condensed milk is the preferred type of milk to add to coffee or tea, just as in many countries in Southeast Asia (such as Vietnam) it is used to flavor coffee.
Tarik is a Malaysian drink made from tea and condensed milk, and in Hong Kong it is also a fundamental element in tea culture.
In the Canary Islands, condensed milk is served in coffee with leche, while in Valencia in coffee Bombón .
In Asia, condensed milk is spread on toast, similar to jam, as well as in West Yorkshire from the post-war era. The "Nestlé" also produced a jar of condensed milk very similar to the Smucker Jam Squeeze jam containers.
Sweetened condensed milk is an important ingredient in many Indian sweets and is often used to enrich the normal one.
In New Orleans, USA, sweetened condensed milk is frequently used as a condiment to add to chocolate ice cream.
In Scotland, it is boiled with sugar and butter, to give rise to a recipe called Tablet or Swisse-Milk-Tablet ; this formula is very similar to another version of the Brazilian Brigadeiro candies called Branquinho .
In some parts of the southern United States, condensed milk is a fundamental ingredient of lemon ice box pie, a kind of cream cake.
In the Philippines, it is mixed with evaporated milk and eggs, and then placed in shallow metal containers together with liquid caramel; a more consistent version of the crème caramel called leche flan is obtained, a dessert very widespread also in Brazil with the name pudim de leite .
In Mexico, sweetened condensed milk mixed with evaporated milk, biscuits, lemon juice and tropical fruit is one of the main ingredients of the Swiss Milch Mädchen cold cake. In Brazil, this recipe (known as torta de bolacha ) also includes replacing fruit with other ingredients such as vanilla and chocolate. Here, condensed milk is also used to make baked dulce de leche, a homemade recipe. Moreover, it can be cooked in a bain-marie in the still sealed jar, obtaining the doce de leite .
In Great Britain and Ireland, boiled condensed milk is used in the filling between the basic biscuit, cream and bananas, in the so-called banoffee .
In the countries of Latin America and Central America, condensed milk (together with evaporated milk and whole milk or cream) is used as an ingredient in tres leches cake dessert .
In Jamaica, 1 measure of condensed milk is mixed with 2 half sizes of dark beer, nutmeg and cocoa to create the Guinness Punch
During the communist era, in Poland it was common to boil a can of condensed milk in water for about three hours. The resulting product (a sweet and semi-liquid substance) was called kajmak, although kaymak refers to a sort of coagulated cream. In Russia, the same product is called varionaya sguschyonka, meaning "boiled condensed milk".
