What to do with 4 cans of evaporated milk?

[thursday]

I always sub in evaporated nonfat milk when a recipe calls for anything milk - half n half, cream, whatever - so I always pick up a can or two when they're on sale. I just noticed, however, that I have four cans that are best used by...today. I must have picked up a bunch for Christmas baking or something and not gotten around to using them. What can I whip up pretty quickly and put in the freezer?

[somervilleoldtimer]

I have a great rice pudding recipe that calls for evap. milk in addition to fresh milk, to increase the calcium.

[alkapal]

i saw jacques pepin make the most beautiful and simple fresh corn gratin the other day, with just a little flour, cream and the corn. i'll be the evaporated milk would do there, too. corn has been so delicious this year….

[toodie jane]

are you finding organically grown corn? can't find any at the coast this year yet :-(

[alkapal]

i don't think what i've bought has been organic. i don't know why organic would be coming in to market any differently than non-organic, though, do you?

[Antilope]

You can use it as a coffee creamer. There are also Kool-aid pie recipes that use evaporated milk (although most use sweetened condensed milk).

[thursday]

I've got a gratin on board for tonight's dinner and am definitely going to make a few batches of fudge - I've been meaning to play around with some fudge ideas, and fudge is always nice to have in the freezer! Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

[Isolda]

Make this: http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateP...
Use your milk instead of fresh.

[greygarious]

Dilute evaporated milk 1:1 with water to use in recipes calling for milk.

[alkapal]

vietnamese coffee uses evaporated milk.

[Cynsa]

I like sweetened condensed milk in my Cafe Sua Da.

[chowser]

That's sweetened condensed milk. I use evaporated milk in my coffee when we run out of regular milk. Either that or ice cream.

[alkapal]

i've heard some vietnamese people make an emphatic point of using evaporated and not sweetened condensed. am i mis-recollecting? LOL.

[toodie jane]

I got a chuckle about putting it in coffee. When we camped, my folks always had a can with two icepick holes in the top, for coffee. I recently visited a college pal whose hubby is horse packer all summer and fall in the Sierras. We had coffee at breakfast, "would you like cream?" "yes, please"--and out came the can of evap milk with two ice pick holes in the top! Took me back, I tell ya!

[alkapal]

those ice picks are multi-taskers!

[chowser]

I keep evaporated milk around for tres leches cake and Alton Brown/C.I.'s stove top mac and cheese.

[somervilleoldtimer]

Put it in your coffee.

[Kiyah]

Here's a fudge (penuche, really) recipe that uses evaporated milk. However, to use up the amount you have, you'd make enough for a football team:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

This is my go-to recipe for fudge, from the yellow Gourmet cookbook. You could add flavors to it if you wanted, such as stirring in some peanut butter when you mix it at the end. I like to make this to give as Christmas presents.

[greygarious]

It will be perfectly fine for months, and probably years.

[Oakland Barb]

Like "good-" said, mac and cheese.

http://mysite.verizon.net/jserdmann/R...

[trvlcrzy]

I usually use it to make flan or pumpkin pie, custard pie. Really easy too.

[TheSnowpea]

You could make Dulce de leche? I'm sure there are some recipes online you could find...

[Antilope]

I usually use sweetened condensed milk to make Dulce de leche. Can you make it from evaporated milk? To answer my own question, maybe if more sugar was added to the evaporated milk.

[alkapal]

yes, the "best by" date is just that -- but that date is probably cautious by a long shot. one neat recipe using evap. milk is "burger bundles" -- unless you are snobby about using cream of mushroom soup -- which i am not. http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1926,...

also, i think fudge uses evaporated milk, right? i'd go to the evaporated milk's manufacturer's website for recipe ideas.

[goodhealthgourmet]

+1 on fudge - first thing that came to mind.

other ideas:
- mac & cheese
- gratin or scalloped potatoes
- mashed potatoes
- pudding
- panna cotta
- creamy soup or chowder
- flan
- key lime pie
- gelato
- scrambled eggs or quiche

you can use it pretty much anywhere you'd normally use cream.

[alkapal]

my key lime pie uses sweetened condensed milk.

[goodhealthgourmet]

sweetened condensed milk is just evaporated milk with sugar added to it..so you can just add sugar to the evaporated milk.

[alkapal]

you think it would be the same? i don't think the texture would work correctly in the application. i guess if i were desperate, i might give it a shot; but, there are plenty of other ways to use the evaporated milk and not worry about doctoring to make it "fit."

[cookinforcash]

For one cup of evaporated milk add 1 1/4 cups of sugar, heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and then let cool. Voila, homemade sweetened condensed milk.

[alkapal]

well, there ya go! is it the same texture?

[goodhealthgourmet]

cookinforcash beat me to it.

yes, it's the same texture as long as you expose the sugar to sufficient heat to get it syrupy. i always make my own because i prefer to control the sweetness/sugar level and the flavor - i use coconut sugar which tastes more like brown sugar than white...and i can actually get away with using less sugar - 7/8 - 1 cup usually does the trick for me and i've never had any complaints ;)

[alkapal]

i like the idea of using coconut sugar. "jaggery" right?

[goodhealthgourmet]

yes & no. jaggery *used* to be derived solely from sugarcane or date palms...but i think now some producers are also using sago and coconut palms for it, and sometimes combining one or more of the sugars.

i use pure coconut sugar for the milk because i don't react to that as negatively as i do to other sugars...but feel free to use jaggery for yours - i adore the flavor of it, i just reserve it for very limited, specific uses.

[alkapal]

in sri lanka, jaggery is from "palmera" (sp?) which mr. alka says looks like a coconut tree. now i've gotta go look that up!

[goodhealthgourmet]

well, "palmera" is just the Spanish word for palm tree...and there are over 2500 species of palm trees, coconut palm just happens to be one of them.
from what i've read, some of the Sri Lankan jaggery may be made from coconut palms nowadays, but i know that it used to come exclusively from date or sugarcane palm...and Goan or Indian jaggery still does.

[alkapal]

OT for this thread, but do you know this blogger? http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com...
saw a link on facebook for the gluten-free pizza crust.

[goodhealthgourmet]

sure do - i know pretty much all of 'em :) but thanks for lookin' out!

[todao]

First of all, the "use by" date is not a mandate. It's simply a freshness indicator. If you kept the milk and used it for Christmas baking this year you'd probably notice not difference in the final product. Frankly, I don't like to freeze anything with dairy in it; but that's a personal choice. I'd use it over a period of a few weeks for gravies, sauces, roux, sweet baked goods, etc.
If you believe you have to use it immediately, any sweet dough made with milk (breakfast rolls, etc.) will work and can be frozen and thawed prior to baking.