Indulging in condensed milk

I love, love, love condensed milk. Some people may say that it is sinful but to me, it is the perfect comfort food. It perks me up, gives me fond memories of my childhood and is a permanent fixture in my fridge.

Condensed milk is made from cow’s milk from which water has been evaporated and sugar has been added to give a very thick, sweet and syrupy liquid. In South East Asia, this very sweet milk is used for baking, cooking and sweetening beverages.


Some ways in which you can enjoy your condensed milk are:

• Add it to your Milo Dinosaur, coffee or tea. Skip the sugar and let the milk enrich your beverage without diluting the taste.
• Liberally drizzle it on a slice of toasted white bread. Sprinkle some chocolate rice on top to give a twist to a Hong Kong 'cha chaan teng' favorite.
• On hot and humid days, top your ice kacang with the milk for that very special sweet treat to cool off.
• In Thailand, I love condensed milk on hot roti.
• My personal favorite – add a cup of condensed milk to your pound cake recipe and celebrate it with your friends!

Here is a condensed milk pound cake recipe that I use when I want to spoil myself .....


(For 8 inches by 3.5 inches pan)


Ingredients:
120 gm butter
40 gm sugar
0.25 tsp salt
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
0.5 cup condensed milk
120 gm cake flour
0.75 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 tbsp cocoa powder
some hot water


Method:
1) Line pan. Preheat oven to 170oC.
2) Mix cocoa powder with hot water.
3) Using electric whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
4) Add in salt, vanilla essence and condensed milk. Whisk till incorporated.
5) Add cake flour. Whisk using low speed until batter is smooth and not lumpy.
6) Add in eggs, 1 at a time. Whisk well.
7) Take out a third of the batter and mix in cocoa solution.
8) Pour in one third of batter to pan, add in the batter with cocoa solution next. Pour in remaining third of batter.
9) Bake in oven at 170oC for 50 minutes.

Condensed Milk Pound Cake

Till my next blog entry, stay hungry! =)