I had a half gallon of TJ's sweetened almond milk.
It's not really sweet at all. I was disappointed.
I was thinking I would pour it into a pan and add
some sugar or honey and heat it up to dissolve it
and then pour it back into the carton. But that
seemed like too much work so I left it sit and then
after Easter I had a dozen egg yolks to contend with.
(I had made angel food cake.)

So I got this idea to use the almond milk to make
custard sauce. I didn't have any milk and didn't want
to go to the store. So I made a triple recipe of custard
sauce.

12 egg yolks (well actually 11 as I used one for a glaze for
my rolls at Easter)
4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. sugar (I think - something like that)
pinch salt
and 1 1/2 t. vanilla.

Made it in the microwave. Heating it in 1 minute increments
and then stirring and checking for doneness after about 5
minutes. I forget how long it took - probably at least 10
minutes. I was doing the dished while I did it so it wasn't
tedious. I would just stop washing and dry my hand when the
timer dinged and go stir.

It turned out well except that the taste is on the salty side.
I couldn't figure out why it tasted salty. I figured that it
had to be the almond milk although when I drank the almond milk
plain it didn't taste particularly salty. So I looked at the
label and damn if it doesn't have "sea salt" listed among the
ingredients! But I can't figure out why the custard tastes so
much saltier than the plain almond milk. And why the hell would
they even put any salt in the almond milk in the first place?

So, it's edible but I'm really disappointed that it has this
saltiness to it. It kind of spoils the experience for me. I
was really looking forward to fruit with custard sauce. My mother
used to make that. Just a bowl of nice fresh fruit - strawberries,
raspberries, blueberries, melon, pineapple, bananas, etc. Then
she would serve it topped with custard sauce. Yum! Man I haven't
had that in years and was really looking forward to it. I bought
some strawberries, blackberries, and bananas. It's still good but
not as good as it could be. Sigh.

Kate
--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

On May 10, 10:54*am, Kate Connally > wrote:

I think it is because the almond milk was sweetened and flaored that
it contains sea salt.
Plain almond milk would probably work better in your recipe.

On 5/10/2011 2:20 PM, ImStillMags wrote:
> On May 10, 10:54 am, Kate > wrote:
>
> I think it is because the almond milk was sweetened and flaored that
> it contains sea salt.
> Plain almond milk would probably work better in your recipe.

Well, duh! ;-) I assumed it *was* plain except for the sugar.
(And I don't like to read ingredient lists on products because
there's always something in there that, if I know about it, will
turn me off of the product. Ignorance is bliss. ;-))

I would never have thought it had sea salt in it. What is that
for anyway? I have often made horchata with almonds and it doesn't
need any salt. So why would almond milk need salt? Preservation,
perhaps? Anyway, I guess one should never assume things about
commercial products, even TJ's! Although I would have thought
better of them.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

On Tue, 10 May 2011 13:54:35 -0400, Kate Connally
> wrote:

> I had a half gallon of TJ's sweetened almond milk.
> It's not really sweet at all. I was disappointed.
> I was thinking I would pour it into a pan and add
> some sugar or honey and heat it up to dissolve it
> and then pour it back into the carton. But that
> seemed like too much work so I left it sit and then
> after Easter I had a dozen egg yolks to contend with.
> (I had made angel food cake.)
>
> So I got this idea to use the almond milk to make
> custard sauce. I didn't have any milk and didn't want
> to go to the store. So I made a triple recipe of custard
> sauce.
>
> 12 egg yolks (well actually 11 as I used one for a glaze for
> my rolls at Easter)
> 4 c. milk
> 1 1/2 c. sugar (I think - something like that)
> pinch salt
> and 1 1/2 t. vanilla.
>
> Made it in the microwave. Heating it in 1 minute increments
> and then stirring and checking for doneness after about 5
> minutes. I forget how long it took - probably at least 10
> minutes. I was doing the dished while I did it so it wasn't
> tedious. I would just stop washing and dry my hand when the
> timer dinged and go stir.
>
> It turned out well except that the taste is on the salty side.
> I couldn't figure out why it tasted salty. I figured that it
> had to be the almond milk although when I drank the almond milk
> plain it didn't taste particularly salty. So I looked at the
> label and damn if it doesn't have "sea salt" listed among the
> ingredients! But I can't figure out why the custard tastes so
> much saltier than the plain almond milk. And why the hell would
> they even put any salt in the almond milk in the first place?
>
> So, it's edible but I'm really disappointed that it has this
> saltiness to it. It kind of spoils the experience for me. I
> was really looking forward to fruit with custard sauce. My mother
> used to make that. Just a bowl of nice fresh fruit - strawberries,
> raspberries, blueberries, melon, pineapple, bananas, etc. Then
> she would serve it topped with custard sauce. Yum! Man I haven't
> had that in years and was really looking forward to it. I bought
> some strawberries, blackberries, and bananas. It's still good but
> not as good as it could be. Sigh.
>
> Kate

Can't say I'm surprised you had a problem. I had trouble making
crepes when I used "almond milk" too. They had the texture of plastic
and just plain didn't cook correctly. It was an experiment gone
wrong.

I wouldn't hesitate to use almond milk in a smoothie, but I wouldn't
even consider for anything that requires cooking.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On 5/10/2011 4:32 PM, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 10 May 2011 13:54:35 -0400, Kate Connally
> > wrote:
>
>> I had a half gallon of TJ's sweetened almond milk.
>> It's not really sweet at all. I was disappointed.
>> I was thinking I would pour it into a pan and add
>> some sugar or honey and heat it up to dissolve it
>> and then pour it back into the carton. But that
>> seemed like too much work so I left it sit and then
>> after Easter I had a dozen egg yolks to contend with.
>> (I had made angel food cake.)
>>
>> So I got this idea to use the almond milk to make
>> custard sauce. I didn't have any milk and didn't want
>> to go to the store. So I made a triple recipe of custard
>> sauce.
>>
>> 12 egg yolks (well actually 11 as I used one for a glaze for
>> my rolls at Easter)
>> 4 c. milk
>> 1 1/2 c. sugar (I think - something like that)
>> pinch salt
>> and 1 1/2 t. vanilla.
>>
>> Made it in the microwave. Heating it in 1 minute increments
>> and then stirring and checking for doneness after about 5
>> minutes. I forget how long it took - probably at least 10
>> minutes. I was doing the dished while I did it so it wasn't
>> tedious. I would just stop washing and dry my hand when the
>> timer dinged and go stir.
>>
>> It turned out well except that the taste is on the salty side.
>> I couldn't figure out why it tasted salty. I figured that it
>> had to be the almond milk although when I drank the almond milk
>> plain it didn't taste particularly salty. So I looked at the
>> label and damn if it doesn't have "sea salt" listed among the
>> ingredients! But I can't figure out why the custard tastes so
>> much saltier than the plain almond milk. And why the hell would
>> they even put any salt in the almond milk in the first place?
>>
>> So, it's edible but I'm really disappointed that it has this
>> saltiness to it. It kind of spoils the experience for me. I
>> was really looking forward to fruit with custard sauce. My mother
>> used to make that. Just a bowl of nice fresh fruit - strawberries,
>> raspberries, blueberries, melon, pineapple, bananas, etc. Then
>> she would serve it topped with custard sauce. Yum! Man I haven't
>> had that in years and was really looking forward to it. I bought
>> some strawberries, blackberries, and bananas. It's still good but
>> not as good as it could be. Sigh.
>>
>> Kate
>
> Can't say I'm surprised you had a problem. I had trouble making
> crepes when I used "almond milk" too. They had the texture of plastic
> and just plain didn't cook correctly. It was an experiment gone
> wrong.
>
> I wouldn't hesitate to use almond milk in a smoothie, but I wouldn't
> even consider for anything that requires cooking.

Actually it worked fine, just the saltiness was a problem. If I could
find unsalted almond milk I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. Although
I guess there are some things where it wouldn't work too well, as in
your case, but you would have to experiment to find out.

I bought some of TJ's almond milk once before and it was very blah.
I looked at the label and it was unsweetened. I used it up by making
hot chocolate with it. That was pretty good. So this time I looked
to see if they also had a sweetened version, which they did. But turns
out it isn't sweet enough for me.

I tried Silk almond milk once and it also was too bland for me.
I wonder if theirs has salt in it. I'll have to check it out and if
so I'll buy that in the future. It would be nice to be able to get
almond milk to use for horchata so it's not as much work.

Kate


--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?

Kate Connally wrote:
> On 5/10/2011 4:32 PM, sf wrote:
>> On Tue, 10 May 2011 13:54:35 -0400, Kate Connally
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> I had a half gallon of TJ's sweetened almond milk.
>>> It's not really sweet at all. I was disappointed.
>>> I was thinking I would pour it into a pan and add
>>> some sugar or honey and heat it up to dissolve it
>>> and then pour it back into the carton. But that
>>> seemed like too much work so I left it sit and then
>>> after Easter I had a dozen egg yolks to contend with.
>>> (I had made angel food cake.)
>>>
>>> So I got this idea to use the almond milk to make
>>> custard sauce. I didn't have any milk and didn't want
>>> to go to the store. So I made a triple recipe of custard
>>> sauce.
>>>
>>> 12 egg yolks (well actually 11 as I used one for a glaze for
>>> my rolls at Easter)
>>> 4 c. milk
>>> 1 1/2 c. sugar (I think - something like that)
>>> pinch salt
>>> and 1 1/2 t. vanilla.
>>>
>>> Made it in the microwave. Heating it in 1 minute increments
>>> and then stirring and checking for doneness after about 5
>>> minutes. I forget how long it took - probably at least 10
>>> minutes. I was doing the dished while I did it so it wasn't
>>> tedious. I would just stop washing and dry my hand when the
>>> timer dinged and go stir.
>>>
>>> It turned out well except that the taste is on the salty side.
>>> I couldn't figure out why it tasted salty. I figured that it
>>> had to be the almond milk although when I drank the almond milk
>>> plain it didn't taste particularly salty. So I looked at the
>>> label and damn if it doesn't have "sea salt" listed among the
>>> ingredients! But I can't figure out why the custard tastes so
>>> much saltier than the plain almond milk. And why the hell would
>>> they even put any salt in the almond milk in the first place?
>>>
>>> So, it's edible but I'm really disappointed that it has this
>>> saltiness to it. It kind of spoils the experience for me. I
>>> was really looking forward to fruit with custard sauce. My mother
>>> used to make that. Just a bowl of nice fresh fruit - strawberries,
>>> raspberries, blueberries, melon, pineapple, bananas, etc. Then
>>> she would serve it topped with custard sauce. Yum! Man I haven't
>>> had that in years and was really looking forward to it. I bought
>>> some strawberries, blackberries, and bananas. It's still good but
>>> not as good as it could be. Sigh.
>>>
>>> Kate
>>
>> Can't say I'm surprised you had a problem. I had trouble making
>> crepes when I used "almond milk" too. They had the texture of plastic
>> and just plain didn't cook correctly. It was an experiment gone
>> wrong.
>>
>> I wouldn't hesitate to use almond milk in a smoothie, but I wouldn't
>> even consider for anything that requires cooking.
>
> Actually it worked fine, just the saltiness was a problem. If I could
> find unsalted almond milk I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. Although
> I guess there are some things where it wouldn't work too well, as in
> your case, but you would have to experiment to find out.
>
> I bought some of TJ's almond milk once before and it was very blah.
> I looked at the label and it was unsweetened. I used it up by making
> hot chocolate with it. That was pretty good. So this time I looked
> to see if they also had a sweetened version, which they did. But turns
> out it isn't sweet enough for me.
>
> I tried Silk almond milk once and it also was too bland for me.
> I wonder if theirs has salt in it. I'll have to check it out and if
> so I'll buy that in the future. It would be nice to be able to get
> almond milk to use for horchata so it's not as much work.
>
> Kate
>
>
First, have you tried hazelnut milk? I am really liking
that--even more with a bit of Splenda, which brings out the
flavor. Also, the last time I got that, I noticed horchata on the
shelf right next to it. I don't think I examined the label, but I
highly doubt it was made from chufa.

--
Jean B.

Kate Connally wrote:
> I had a half gallon of TJ's sweetened almond milk.
> It's not really sweet at all. I was disappointed.

Not that you asked, but almond milk is pretty easy to DIY - just soak
the almond overnight, rinse, then put into blender with water (plus
whatever else you like in terms of sweetener, salt, etc.) and strain
Recipes abound on the Internet for this - the only downside is that,
like beans, they work best when soaked first.

But, of course, it's probably easier to go to the store and buy regular
milk and avoid all the hassles if you're making custard, anyway.

-S-