What Is Evaporated milk, sweetened and How Can I Use It?
Evaporated milk, sweetened is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 3 recipes to get you started.
Key Points
- "Sweetened evaporated milk" is an ambiguous label; in practice it almost always means sweetened condensed milk.
- Plain evaporated milk is unsweetened; sweetened condensed milk is milk cooked down with a lot of sugar.
- They are not interchangeable: the wrong can makes a sauce cloying or a candy never set.
What is evaporated milk, sweetened?
"Evaporated milk, sweetened" is a confusing label, because the two canned milks people mean by it are not the same product. It pays to sort out which one a recipe actually wants before you open a can.
Plain evaporated milk is unsweetened. It is just milk with most of its water boiled off, then canned. There is no sugar in it at all.
The sweetened, reduced canned milk is a different thing entirely: sweetened condensed milk, which is milk cooked down with a large amount of sugar until it is thick and intensely sweet.
So if a recipe calls for "sweetened evaporated milk," it almost always means sweetened condensed milk. Reach for that can, not plain evaporated.
Which can do you need
Match the can to the job. If the recipe leans on the milk for sweetness and set, like fudge or key lime pie, it wants sweetened condensed milk.
If the recipe adds its own sugar and just wants richness or body in a custard, sauce, or pie filling, it wants plain evaporated milk.
The two are not interchangeable. Swap one for the other and a savory sauce turns cloying, or a candy never sets. Read the full pages for each before you cook.
For everything else, both start from ordinary milk.
Quick facts
- In Chinese
- 淡炼乳，甜
- British (UK) term
- Evaporated milk, sweetened
- en français
- lait évaporé, sucré
- en español
- la leche evaporada, endulzado
Recipes using evaporated milk, sweetened
There are 3 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Mocha-Chip Cheesecake
No-bake mocha chip cheesecake with a chocolate chip graham cracker crust, coffee-infused cream cheese filling, and mini chocolate chips folded throughout. Set with gelatin, not eggs.
Easy Nut Fudge
Easy nut fudge made entirely in the microwave with brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, and powdered sugar. Caramel-toned penuche-style fudge with crunchy nuts, no thermometer needed.
Candy Irish Potatoes
They are not potatoes that come from the soil, they are made with sugar, and shaped like potatoes, also mixed in vanilla extract and milk. Dust with cinnamon or cocoa powder. People love these cute looking candy potatoes!
