School cafeteria lemon mousse

[pickman]

This is the lemon mousse recipe I was looking for. I found it in one of my wife’s old cookbooks she had when in high school. Someone who worked in the cafeteria had given her the recipe, and she sized it down. The recipe only has 4 ingredients.

1 can Evaporated milk
Juice from 3 Lemons
1 cup Sugar
Graham crackers crushed to make a 9" pie crust

I kicked it up a notch by making the crust the same as I do for cheesecake. To me it makes the crust so much more tasty. So easy and so delicious.

Yields: 8 Servings

1 can evaporated milk
Juice from 3 lemons
1 cup sugar + 3 tablespoons
1 1/2 cups graham crackers (about 9-10)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted

In a food processor or blender crush the crackers. Add the melted butter, vanilla
and 3 T sugar. Pulsate a few times and then whirl until some type of loose paste forms.
Place the cookie mix into a 9" pie pan. Press the crust down with a spoon ( I use my thumbs). Set aside. It should have taken about a cup to make the crust, so the rest can be used for garnish. If you prefer it is just as good without the garnish.

Beat milk until thick, then add lemon juice and 1 cup sugar.

Pour mixture into pan, sprinkle the rest of the graham crumbs over top, and chill in freezer until firm the cut into pieces.

Get desired pieces from the freezer, and let set for a few minutes before serving.

[kushy]

What is evaporated milk?

[pickman]

It can found in the supermarket next to the sweetened condensed milk in the baking section. When I was a child my parents always used Carnation evaporated milk in their coffee to make it rich and creamy.

[patm099]

I made this lemon mousse last night. It tasted good but seemed to be lacking something. Will try it again adding some lemon zest to see if that helps.

[massimoalema]

Thanks for sharing own good ideas.

[messcook63]

Can the Sysop and others who share their recipes please post more School Cafetria recipes. I liked a lot of the things the ladies made for our noonings, both the main meal and deserts. I really like the Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce they severed at this time of year. The Chilli they made was very good with the peanut Butter/Honey sandwichs or Tomatoe Soup. I used to work in the cafeteria at lunch time so I could get extra Gingerbread and lemon sauce or the Raisin/Spice cakes they also made. The Prune Whip was OK, but it gave me and a lot of others reason to have to run down three flights before the Prunewhip went “FUll Tilt Bozo” and we needed clean drawers LOL

[messcook63]

@Kitchen_Witch

concentrated milk: milk that has been thickened by removing 60% of the water by evaporation - found in local grocery stores - canned milk - not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk - also canned -

Evaporated Milk
Evaporated milk is the thicker version of milk obtained in the market in canned form. It is prepared by evaporating regular milk and extracting 60% of water from the milk in a high heat environment. The process of evaporation is conducted by a process called vacuum evaporation, wherein more than half the water is discarded from the milk. After this the milk is homogenized to provide longer shelf life and is also sterilized. According to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) standards, evaporated milk manufactured should contain a minimum of 25.5% milk solids and a minimum of 7.9% milk fats.

Evaporated milk is used by people as an alternative for regular milk in tea and coffee. Since the shelf life (months or even year depending on brand type) of evaporated milk is high, they do not get spoiled easily and can be stored as a substitute for milk in regions where fresh milk is not easily available. People can even take cans of evaporated milk while going camping! When appropriate amount of water is added to evaporated milk, it becomes equivalent to fresh milk. Evaporated milk is also added to soups, casseroles and gravy recipes to impart a rich, creamy taste to the dish.

Condensed Milk
Condensed milk is prepared by the same process evaporated milk is formed. 60% of its water content is vacuum evaporated and then homogenized. After these steps, a sweetener is added to condensed milk and then sterilized. However, the sterilization process is not as rigorous as that carried out for preparation of evaporated milk. This is because the sweetener added inhibits growth of micro-organisms, thereby sterilizing the milk partly. The rest of the sterilization requirements are done during the sterilization stage.

According to FDA standards, evaporated milk manufactured should contain a minimum of 28% milk solids and a minimum of 8% milk fats. Condensed milk finds its applications in several desserts and beverages such as Vietnamese coffee. Condensed milk is also applied to pieces of toast, similar to how jam is applied on bread, and eaten.

Similarities between Condensed Milk and Evaporated Milk
Both condensed and evaporated milk come from the same parent: regular milk. Moreover, both of them undergo the process of vacuum evaporation and are formed after evaporation of 60% water content from milk. Both these dairy products are sold in cans and are found in grocery stores.

Condensed Milk Vs Evaporated Milk
If both condensed milk and evaporated milk are produced from the same milk, with the same amount of water content (60%) being evaporated then what is the difference? Well, in condensed milk there is an additional step carried out after the evaporation process. This step involves addition of a sweetener into the evaporated milk. It is this added sweetener that gives condensed milk its delicious, unique flavor. This means unsweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are the same thing. To put it in yet another way; sweetened evaporated milk is called condensed milk.

Both condensed milk and evaporated milk are rich in calories due to their concentrated form, however, since condensed milk contains additional sugar content, it possesses higher calories than evaporated milk. Another difference between these two products is the government regulations on vitamin contents. The government demands addition of vitamin A, D and C to evaporated milk during its manufacture, however, in case of condensed milk, the government demands only addition of vitamin A.

While considering condensed milk and evaporated milk, we find that there is only a hairline difference between the two products. However, we also know these two dairy products are not the same.

Did you know that Gail Borden was the person who made the first workable Instant Coffee?
He would powder the coffee grounds as fine as he could and mix some much of the powder with his then new Eagle Brand milk and a bit of water to disolve the powder. To use, one would heat a cup of water and place a teaspoon of the coffe Paste in the water and stir it. No sugar or cream was needed as the Eagle Brand was sweet enough. Bordens sold a lot of this Essence Of Coffee to the U.S. Army during the War Between the States, as it was quick and tasted good.

A humoruse note here: The people at the main Military Supply Depots stacked the one gallon sized cans of Coffee on open storeage/Shipping docks, right next to the same size cans of Axel Grease needed to keep the supply wagons, Field Ambulances and the Cannon Wheels turning quietly. The rain would make the labels on both the Coffee and Axel Grease cans fall off and the troops sometimes received grease and made really bad coffee LOL, and the wagoneers had the wheels fall off LOL