When to Really Use Skimmed Milk Instead of Whole Milk
Skim milk doesn’t have the tastiest reputation, but there are times when leaner milk does work to your advantage. As Stella Parks notes in the article below, The Empress of Desserts, there are times when wealth can hide and muffle rather than enhance flavor.
Obviously, skim milk should not be used in foods where dairy provides the bulk of “fat, taste, and body,” but Parks has many recipes for how it actually enhances the final product. Click the link below to check out all of them, but these are three of my favorites:
- Most Chocolate Chocolate Cream Pie: Rich in egg yolk and high-fat Dutch cocoa, this tart is actually darker in flavor when you use skim milk, as “milk solids have a way of muffling the taste of chocolate.”
- Classic Blueberry Muffins: The main purpose of the milk in this recipe is to moisturize the dry ingredients and make the gluten work. This will happen with skim milk, whole milk, or 2% milk, so use whatever is on hand.
- Extremely Refreshing Fudgsicles: As with the aforementioned cake, using milk with less solids gives you a darker and chocolatier flavor , while lighter milk makes the frozen treat feel lighter and more refreshing.
It is important to note that this has nothing to do with “diet” or “calorie reduction”, but rather “recognizing the role of milk as a water / lactose delivery system, rather than as a source of fat in most desserts.” I won’t be using skim milk to make ice cream any time soon, but I won’t throw it away either. (Because I want this pie, damn it.)
In honor of skim milk | Serious food