How to use lemon or other fruit acid in Brigadeiro without curdling?

Here in Brazil it is customary to make Brigadeiro of varied flavors. The basic recipe is sweetened condensed milk and butter cooked until sticking to the pan.

It is known that, when the acidic fruit juice comes into contact with the milk, it curdles. This is the problem.

How can I cook 395g of sweetened condensed milk + 15g butter + 25ml lemon juice (or any other acid fruit juice) without it curdling?

PS.: I do not want to use essences or anything with artificial lemon flavor.

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Best Answer

As someone pointed out, key lime pie (or "torta de limão com merengue" as we know it) shouldn't curdle, but it is a different type of heat we're talking about, so bear with me for a while.

A few tips:

1) Add less zest at the end of the cooking. If you add everything together, the essential oils evaporate during cooking and you lose the flavor; 2) If you want to use juice, make a white brigadeiro and add the lime juice (our "limão taiti" is actually called lime) after cooking so it doesn't curdle and preserves the flavor

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How do you keep lemons from curdling cream?

Try cooking the lemon juice a little longer before adding the cream. This works for me, and I think it reduces the acidity and makes it less likely to curdle the cream. This is what I do when I make my favorite lemon cream sauce and it has definitely improved it.

Will lemon juice curdle condensed milk?

Lemon juice thickens condensed milk in the same way it would "thicken" regular milk, i.e., by curdling.

Does sweetened condensed milk curdle with acid?

Condensed milk has a very different chemical profile than fresh, and behaves accordingly. It will not curdle in the presence of acid, like regular milk would (that's why it's used for Key lime pie).

Will lemon zest curdle milk?

The acidity can curdle milk. You would use zest in this case. The flavor in the juice isn't really exactly the same lemon flavor as the zest, either.

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