Homemade krówki — milk and butter candies

Line a pan about 20 × 15 cm internally with nonstick silicone-coated baking parchment, leaving handles to lift out the mixture. Do not grease it. Prepare a wide heavy-bottomed saucepan about 20 cm across and at least 2 liters in capacity, plus a heatproof spatula. Set a small bowl of very cold water nearby, only for checking consistency.

Put exactly 400 g sweetened condensed milk, all 150 g white sugar, 80 g butter and 8 g real vanilla sugar into the saucepan. The milk should be pale and thick; unsweetened evaporated milk and ready-made milk caramel have different properties. Weigh the required amount regardless of package size. All butter goes into the mixture, without reserving any for the pan or knife.

Heat on low about 5–8 minutes, stirring gently and scraping the base. The butter should melt and the sugar crystals should dissolve. Only then let the mixture come to a gentle boil. Do not preheat an empty saucepan and do not abruptly increase the heat to speed this stage; the milky mixture sticks easily and may scorch.

Cook without a lid on low or medium-low heat, keeping a steady clear bubbling, usually another 8–15 minutes. Stir without stopping, sweeping the whole base and edges. The mixture gradually thickens and becomes light caramel in color. Do not wait for dark brown. If it splatters vigorously, lower the heat; hot sticky caramel can burn you badly, so do not taste it from the spoon.

Briefly take the saucepan off the heat and drop a little mixture into the cold water. Wait until completely cooled before gathering it with your fingers: it should form a soft ball that flattens easily. If it spreads through the water, cook about another minute and test again. Allow about 2 g mixture in total for tests; samples stay outside the candies. Do not pour water or wet samples into the saucepan.

Once the sample forms a soft ball, stop cooking and put the saucepan on a stable heatproof trivet for about 3–5 minutes. Then stir with the spatula a dozen or so times to even the consistency. Do not beat with a mixer and do not work it at length into a dry matte lump: the aim is soft krówki. The mixture should stay thick but be easy to transfer and spread.

Carefully transfer into the prepared pan and scrape edible mixture from the saucepan sides with the spatula. Spread evenly into the corners using the tool, without touching the caramel. Do not add toppings, glaze or extra butter. Do not move the pan abruptly and do not lift it by parchment alone while the mixture is hot. The top may retain light spatula marks.

Leave the pan on a stable worktop about 45–60 minutes until the mixture is no longer warm. Then cover and refrigerate 3–4 hours until clearly set. Do not tightly cover steaming mixture, so condensation does not drip onto the top. Chilling helps neat cutting but does not replace proper evaporation checked with the soft-ball test.

Lift the set mixture by the parchment onto a board and gently peel the paper away. Divide the 20 cm side into five equal segments and the 15 cm side into six; make perpendicular cuts with a dry sharp knife to get thirty candies about 4 × 2.5 cm. Do not trim the edges. If the mixture sticks strongly to the blade, chill briefly again; do not grease the knife.

Serve krówki without extras or wrap cooled candies individually in food wrapping paper. Share all edible pieces from the board among servings. Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to a week, away from moisture and strong odors. They are softer and stickier when warm and may become more crumbly over time. Take out only as many candies as you plan to serve.