First, thank you to all those who are willing to share their recipes with the rest of us. I do appreciate this.

However, since this site is worldwide, I would very much like if you could write the proper measurements in the recipes instead of just 1 can of... or 1 package of...
The packages and cans have different sizes all over the world.

At the moment, I would like to try this recipe, http://cakecentral.com/recipes/6851/thick-caramel-sauce-or-filling but I don't know how much is in a can of condensed milk, so if anyone knows, please tell.

Thanks again.

I think the standard is 14 ounces.

I ain't trying to be a smart butt, but I've only ever seen one size can of that stuff.

"I seeeeeeee." said the blind man.

Wow! You can't get sweetened condensed milk in Denmark? That sucks, dude. Seriously. Anyway, yes 14 ounces is the standard for that one. I guess we Americans really are bad about not realizing that things we find to be commonplace are only so here.

Interested to know how you make sweetened condensed milk yourself....

I am so glad to see this thread because that is on my list of Things That Totally Pi$$ Me Off! People who don't know how to properly write a recipe.

I've noticed that things like "one stick of butter" is foreign to non-Americans. And I've noticed that a lot of americans have no idea that 1 stick is 1/2 cup or 1/4 pound.

"One Capful" depends on what size bottle or jar you're using. I bought vegetable oil in 30 pound jugs. I guarantee you that my "capful of oil" was WAY bigger than a housewife's "capful of oil".

Using brand names instead of what it is. I used the example of "one cup of Jif (or Jiffy)" in a peanut butter cookie recipe and a CC'er came back laughing because in her country, "Jif" was a toilet cleaner! In some of my old cookbooks, there are recipes with brands of items that either went out of business 50 years ago or the brand is unique to a certain region of the country. So I can't even try to substitute because I dont' know if it's peanut butter or toilet cleaner!

In my lifetime, I've edited some cookbooks (company cookbooks with recipes from employees) and you can't believe how many recipes I'd have to correct and sometimes just flat out track the person down to ask "what the hell does this mean?"

oh, yeah, indydebi, most people cannot write a recipe for anything (not that I'm perfect, but I do try to be aware of what and how ). we have a huge collection of cookbooks that we do not use as a result of friends and family giving us company and church cookbooks as presents (because they know we both like to cook). most of, if not all, the recipes in those books are useless to us, either because they are so poorly written or because we actually want to cook something, not mix a can of condensed soup with two other kinds of pre-packaged food (i'm sorry, but that's not cooking!). my husband's cousin put together a family cookbook the other year. no one will use any of the recipes I submitted because they're all "too hard", meaning that they are actually recipes for cooking from scratch, not mixing pre-packaged stuff together.

We can't get loads of things here either. I get so excited about a recipe, then it calls for things we don't have.
Here is a link to a quick condensed milk with milk powder. Always worked fine for me. Use fine caster sugar, I had a wee bit undissolved. Better after a couple of days.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/sweetenedcondensedmilk.htm

Actually, where I'm at (In America) there are about 3 sizes of sweetened condensed milk, so I'm with you! CONFUSED!!

And Debi, I hear you on the slang and substitutions confusion. You can tell how old a recipe is if it calls for oleo. I am pretty sure that is butter or margarine because my grandma used to say that, but man, talk about something you may NOT be able to guess accurately. And the rest of the recipe may not exactly give it away, depending on what it is, and how familiar you are with that type of cooking!

Personally I have trouble with metric measurements. I'm one of those silly American girls who never really learned it. Thank goodness for the internet where you can look that stuff up, and for places that will even 'translate' a recipe for you!

Oleo was one of, if not the first, brand of margarine, so for a while it was synomous with margarine. Many of the recipes I got handed down from my grandmothers have oleo as an ingredient. I just use butter instead and have never had a problem. Margarine is not allowed in my house. I don't even use vegetable shortening unless there really is no other choice and I try very hard to find a way around it. I use butter and lard in pie crust and biscuits now. It's actually healthier for you!

if i remember rightly, i bought a can of carnation condensed milk the other day, it was a 379g tin, i think it worked to about 12oz, Give or take a few. although i have seen them in larger tins

I am one of the confused ones...for example..they say one box of pudding mix..Wich size small or family size..
Edna

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think pudding as we know it here in the US is really eaten outside of the the US (maybe is in Canada?).

As for fruit-flavored gelatin (which is what Jello is), I have no idea if that is something that is eaten outside the US/NA or not.

Vegetable shortening is called vegetable fat in other places (I know there is at least one brand of it in the UK and in Australia, not sure about other countries), but is still pretty uncommon, I think most of the things we use it for in the US aren't eaten or are traditionally made with other fats (butter or lard I'm guessing).

Are pumpkins and other squashes (other than zucchini/courgettes) eaten outside the Americas? Or are canned veg just not as common outside of the US?

I know a lot of what we find commonplace here in the US isn't in other places (and visa versa), but then things like sweetened condensed milk and various extracts I would think would be available in Europe. Are you able to order from online sources, such as Lorann's and have it shipped, or are the shipping costs prohibitive?

I wonder if it's easier to get things that are more common in Europe here in the US than the other way round? For example, if I want Devon (clotted) cream, there are stores here in the US that import it, but I guess other than at US military commissaries, many US food products aren't shipped overseas?

My mother often sends me recipes, which is great, but she is writing them down from her memory. So, I have a recipe for a cornbread which says "Heat oven until hot" and "bake for 20 minutes. Or 40. Check and see, when it's done take it out". Her most famous recipe was for a soup called "Hodge-Podge". I loved it as a child, but I think she must have made it up. Her recipe says: "Cook potatoes and other hard vegs. Add beans, corn, etc. Don't forget the milk."

Well, that is my recipe.... I think the people that are saying there are 3 sizes of cans are thinking of evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk....and there is a big difference between the two.
I'm sorry I didn't think "internationally". A can of sweetened condensed milk is 14 ounces here in the States. I've never seen another size for as long as I've grocery shopped.
If I Google it, it says that 14 ounces is the equivalent of 397 grams.

My apologies. No frustration intended. That caramel is fabulous. I hope you enjoy it.

Jodie

In Australia, Condensed milk is around 390 - 400g tins. I've noticed them sneakily reducing the contents when I go to make a recipe (the cookbooks I use always give the weight).

I have to admit that I haven't tried any of the recipes on CC because I can't translate them easily. We also don't have most of the things you have. I was really excited about that gourmet flavours thread until I looked at the recipes and realised that I didn't understand half of what was in them or couldn't get my hands on the products. My cousin's new wife (a gorgeous gal from Kentucky) has also told me that you have different cup sizes for wet and dry ingredients which just further adds to my confusion.

Another reason to write the size of the can or box, like 14 oz., is that manufacturers often up and change the size of the can on you!! I have lots of recipes that call for a 15 oz. can of something or other, but now they've reduced that product to 14 oz. It may not sound like a big difference, but it can be . . . the finished recipe might be really dry.

wow..... didn't realize I'd read this and get somewhat offended. Personally, I like "semi-homemade" and I don't care to have someone tell me that it isn't cooking because I happen to use a can of condensed soup in one of my recipes. If I stand over a stove with various ingredients and put together a meal... that's cooking. I don't have time nor do I even care to spend all day cooking something completely from scratch just to have my 2 year old turn his nose up to it.

They are the same size measures... it's just that "dry" measuring cups you fill allll the way to the top so you can scrape off and "wet" measuring cups are more like the clear type with incremental lines that are taller than the highest line. I think the theory is that wet ingredients will meniscus (bulge) up over the top while still being contained and throw off your recipe. I use them interchangeably cause I'm a rebel like that

Hey, there have been plenty of times I WISHED they'd have just used a Stouffer's lasagna!!