Sweetened Condensed Milk

Sweetened condensed milk is thick, canned cow's milk concentrated by evaporation and preserved with sugar. It pours in slow, glossy ribbons with a silky sweetness and mild cooked-milk flavor. Cooks use it to make fudge, pie fillings, no-bake bars, and Vietnamese-style coffee; it is most often sold in shelf-stable cans.\n\nCommercial condensed milk emerged in the mid-19th century in the United States and spread globally through canning and trade. It is produced by removing roughly half the water from cow's milk, adding sugar to stabilize, and heat-treating before canning; it now anchors desserts in Latin American, Southeast Asian, and European cuisines.