Re: Whole milk substitute

candeh@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote in news:k30g24pridrl3do9rucdcd3drq7u5optgn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On 12 May 2008 01:16:47 GMT, Opus the Penguin
> <opusthepenguin+usenet@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
>>I want to make some Mexican candy (recipe below) that calls for 1/4 cup 
>>whole milk. We don't buy whole milk. What happens if I use 1% milk? 
>>Would it work but not be as rich, or would it be a disaster. If the 
>>latter, I'll just use 1/8 cup eva****ated milk and 1/8 cup water.

I'm guessing you've already made the stuff, but I would bet using 1% 
makes no meaningful difference.  You're going to be changing the fat 
content by a tiny amount, and I can guarantee you that plenty of Mexican 
grandmothers use whatever they have on hand and lots probably don't even 
measure all that carefully.
 
> Let me trot out an old saying that I'm sure you've heard before and
> will probably hear again: Cooking is an art, baking is a science.
> 
>  Wait a minute, I'm not finished. I realize that candymaking is not
> the same as baking, but I'm pretty sure that the amounts and the
> specific ingredients will make a much more profound difference in the
> end product of candymaking than it would in mere cooking.
 
Tolerances vary a lot by what you're making, and lots of candies don't 
require all that much obsessiveness.  For that matter, most baking 
doesn't require all that much obsessiveness either.  The fact is that 
stove and oven temperatures vary, the effects of cooking pots and pans 
changes the variables a lot, ingredients vary a lot by water content, by 
age, etc.  You need to be careful, but as long as you're close enough you 
just end up doing something a little different, not something bad.

When Escoffier and Ma Ingalls were cooking, the variables they 
encountered were even greater than what people face today, but those two  
managed just fine.  What typically happened, I think, is that people had 
wider tolerances for results and cooks were pretty good at adjusting on 
the fly when batters came out too wet or soggy or they were short on 
butter or the hens only laid one egg or whatever.

> Anyways, my belief is that when making candy or baking pastries or
> cakes or anything like that, do not skimp on the sugar and fat. Just
> make less of it and don't eat so much. 

This makes sense.