Do I Use Sweetened Or Unsweetened Condensed Milk For The Chocolate And Pistachio Fudge?

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Pistachio Fudge (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) is an easy to make fudge that does not need boiling. It is a combination of condensed milk and dark chocolate. The condensed milk is the sweetened type and means that you don't need to add extra sugar to the fudge.

Milk labelled as condensed milk is always sweetened, though the labelling can vary slightly in different countries and some will refer to it as "sweetened condensed milk". Unsweetened condensed milk is usually labelled as evaporated milk. Both condensed milk and evaporated milk start as whole milk that is then cooked to remove around 60% of the original water content. If the milk is canned at this point then it is evaporated milk. To make condensed milk a large amount of sugar is then added and the milk becomes very thick and sweet. Condensed milk is only used for sweet cooking, whereas evaporated milk may be used in either sweet or savoury cooking and the two are not interchangeable.