I have a recipe for chocolate frosting. It calls for something like 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk.
Sweetened condensed milk is...
(1) rather expensive
(2) totally delicious
This being the case, I did not think it was prudent to use just a portion of a can of sweetened condensed milk and risk wasting the rest. So every time I tried making this frosting, I tried to figure out just exactly how much sweetened condensed milk there really is in a can, and then do the math, extrapolating by ratios, to figure out what the proper proportions would be to make the whole can into frosting.
It never came out quite right.
Mind you, it is made of sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and a small bit of butter. There is a limit to how wrong such a combination can be. (Just pointing that out.) Every time I made it, it was absolutely delicious, but it was not always quite the right consistency for frosting.
The last time I made it, I didn't measure much of anything, and it came out fantastic, delicious, superb, and mouthwatering as well.
What I did:
I opened the can of sweetened condensed milk and poured some into a saucepan. It was most of the can, but I did not hold it upside down to drain it, nor did I scrape the sides in any way. Being thick, quite a bit clung to the sides, and this I scraped into a storage container; I would guess I got about 1/3 cup or so out of the can to keep. Maybe 1/2 cup? I don't know. I was being a free spirit.
I placed the sweetened condensed milk in the pan over low heat. While it was heating, I looked for chocolate chips, found them, and measured out approximately 2 cups. By the time I was done doing this, the milk was beginning to bubble a bit. I quicky added the chocolate chips and approximately two tablespoons of butter. It all melted together pretty much instantly, so I removed it from the heat and stirred briskly until it appeared to be a good consistency for spreading on the cake I had.
After spreading and cooling the frosting, I wound up with an AWESOME cake that was truly sublime, a rare treat for the tongue.
But... what to do with the leftover sweetened condensed milk???
DO NOT WORRY! I figured this out!
...You put it in your coffee. Not all of it, about 1-2 tablespoons per cup, depending on how sweet and creamy you like your coffee. Yes, that is what you do, and for a lot less than Starbucks, you get a drink that tastes better than anything they have to offer. This is not a lie. This is the truth. It is also good in English breakfast tea. I know, because I tried it.
7 comments:
I am e-mailing this post to my mom RIGHT NOW. Sweetened condensed milk is totally her weakness.
When my mom was in college, they put sweetened condensed milk in their coffee, she tells me. I am wondering how rich her roommate must have been to afford this?
I have also heard of a recipe for turning a whole can of s.c.m. into caramel. I believe you submerge the whole can in a pan of water (over the top of the can) and boil then turn off and leave for hours and hours. when you open the cooled can, it is said to be the best caramel ever. I have always wanted to try it.
I figure that even if sweetened condensed milk is somewhat expensive, I can get a can at Aldi for approximately $1.59 (or maybe it's $1.39, what do I know?--at any rate it is less than Wegman's brand, which is $1.99 and not as tasty... I do know this). So, if I get it cheap at Aldi, well under $2, and from it I get a deliciously frosted cake and 3-4 cups of a delicious hot drink, and if it saves me even one trip to Starbucks (and the last caramel macchiato was $4.10 for a medium and decidedly disappointing after my sweetened condensed drinks at home...) I am financially way ahead!
WHY DID YOU CHANGE MY PICTURE?! I hate my new picture. please change it back.
Shannon, together we found a solution. :)
You devil-woman. I should've lived the rest of my life without reading such suggestions. I am not strong enough to resist.
(got here from a comment of your's at Amy's Humble Musings)
OK - so I put SCM on my grocer list and bought it (you're right, it IS expensive), and used it in my coffee. I came all the way back to say: don't do that! Pay roughly the same price for a quart of heavy whipping cream. Use this and a few spoons of sugar in your coffee and you will get way more mileage and way more satisfaction.
Enjoy!
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