Generality
Condensed milk is a cow's milk based food to which a significant portion of water has been removed.
Sweetened condensed milk is very thick and has an extremely sweet taste; due to these characteristics, if stored hermetically in a box, it can have 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 in the formulation of numerous desserts and is widespread practically all over the world.
Other preserved milk products are: evaporated milk, freeze-dried milk, milk powder 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 for fat separation and to inhibit overall oxidation.
Once a certain percentage of water has evaporated, the sugar is added respecting 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 milk evaporated sweetened is produced by further cooling and dehydrating the compound, thereby promoting the crystallization of lactose.
Homemade condensed milk
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Nutritional Characteristics
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, of the 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.
The peptides are of high biological value, ie they have a pool of essential amino acids very similar to that of human proteins.
From a 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 (vitamin B2) and equivalent retinol (vitamin A) are found.
Nutritional values (per 100 g of edible portion)
The sweetened condensed milk is not a food that lends itself to a contemporary diet and is to be considered as a real dessert. The caloric intake is very high and makes it a completely unsuitable product for the diet of the overweight subject. .
Furthermore, the high concentration of added sucrose makes condensed milk an unsuitable food for clinical nutrition for hyperglycemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia.
As far as lipids are concerned, this product certainly does not enjoy a good breakdown 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 subjects suffering from lactose intolerance and in those who show 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 ovoid nutrition but not vegan. Used as a substitute for jam / jam or sweet spreads, it can help raise dietary calcium levels.
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 candies 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 to three hours, the contents turn into Dulce de Leche.
In some parts of Asia and Europe, sweetened condensed milk is the preferred type of milk to add to coffee or tea, as well as in many Southeast Asian countries (such as Vietnam) it is used to flavor coffee.
The Tarik is a Malaysian drink made from tea and condensed milk, and also in Hong Kong it represents a fundamental element in the culture of tea.
In the Canary Islands, condensed milk is served in coffee with leche, while in Valencia in the Bombón coffee.
In Asia, condensed milk is spread on toast, similar to jam, as in English West Yorkshire since the war. “Nestlé” also produced a can of condensed milk very similar to jam containers Smucker Jam Squeeze.
Sweetened condensed milk is an important ingredient in many Indian desserts and is often used to enrich regular milk.
In New Orleans, USA, sweetened condensed milk is frequently used as a topping 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 candy called Branquinho.
In some parts of the southern United States, condensed milk forms a key ingredient of lemon ice box pie, a kind of cream pie.
In the Philippines, it is mixed with evaporated milk and eggs, and subsequently placed in shallow metal containers together with liquid caramel; a more consistent version of the aforementioned crème caramel is obtained leche flan, a very popular dessert also in Brazil with the name pudim de leite.
In Mexico, sweetened condensed milk mixed with evaporated milk, cookies, lemon juice and tropical fruit is one of the main ingredients of the cold cake. Swiss Milch Mädchen. In Brazil, this recipe (known as cake de bolacha) also provides for the replacement of fruit with other ingredients such as vanilla and chocolate. Here, condensed milk is also used to make the dulce de leche baked, a homemade recipe. Furthermore, 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, the cream and the 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 measures of dark beer, nutmeg and cocoa to create the Guinness Punch
During the communist era, it was common in Poland to boil a can of condensed milk in water for about three hours. The resulting product (a sweet, semi-liquid substance) was called kajmak, despite kaymak refers to a sort of coagulated cream. In Russia, the same product is said varionaya sguschyonka, ie "boiled condensed milk".
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