Quick Homemade Condensed Milk
This is the simplest way to make condensed milk at home: equal parts milk and sugar, a little butter and a pinch of baking soda. The trick is a wide pan and a high heat — the water boils off fast, and after 10 minutes of boiling the mixture is done. Off the heat it is still as runny as cream; do not cook it longer, because it only reaches its true thickness as it cools, best overnight in the fridge. The butter adds the richness ordinary milk lacks, and the soda keeps the milk from curdling over the high heat.
- Prep
- 2 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 4 h
- Total
- 4 h 17 min
- Servings
- 10
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 107 kcal
Ingredients
Makes: One small jar
Shopping list
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Method
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Step 1: Choose a wide pan
Use a high-sided saucepan or a deep frying pan. The mixture foams hard and rises in a cap, so the pan should hold at least three times its volume. The wider the base, the faster the water boils off.
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Step 2: Combine everything cold
Pour the cold milk into the pan, add the sugar and the butter, and add the pinch of baking soda.
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Step 3: Bring to the boil
Set over a medium heat and whisk until the sugar and butter have completely dissolved and the mixture comes to the boil.
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Step 4: Boil for exactly 10 minutes
As soon as it boils hard and foams up, turn the heat to medium-high and set a timer for 10 minutes. It should boil vigorously without boiling over. Whisk the whole time.
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Step 5: Test a drop
After 10 minutes the mixture is still as runny as cream — that is how it should be, so do not keep cooking. Drop a little on a cold plate: it should not spread out at once.
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Step 6: Cool it quickly
Take the pan off the heat and stand it in a bowl of cold or iced water. Stir for a few minutes until barely warm — this keeps the texture silky.
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Step 7: Chill overnight
Pour into a glass jar, close it and refrigerate for at least a few hours, better overnight. It thickens there to its proper consistency.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Do not keep boiling because it looks thin: overcooked, it turns toffee-chewy once cold and may crystallise.
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Tip
Use no more soda than fits on the tip of a knife — any more and you will taste it.
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Variation
To make more, keep the same ratio: 300 ml milk, 300 g icing sugar and 30 g butter, in an even wider pan.
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Storage
Keep in a closed glass jar in the fridge.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 10 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 107 kcal | 1,070 kcal |
| Protein | 1 g | 10 g |
| Fat | 2 g | 20 g |
| Carbohydrates | 21 g | 210 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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