Butterscotch and dulce de leche are not the same although both butterscotch and dulce de leche are rich, sweet, cooked sugar confections, but they differ in their base.
Dulce de leche is made from slowly simmering milk or condensed milk and sugar, which results a deep, milky caramel with complex Maillard reaction notes.
And butterscotch uses brown sugar and butter, which gives it the nutty and toffee flavor.
Dulce de leche focuses on the caramelized milk sugars, which makes it more mellow and distinctly buttery and butterscotch emphasizes butter and brown sugar.
Butterscotch is basically made from cooking down brown sugar with butter and has a flavor that is sweeter and softer than that of caramel.
Dulce de leche is a rich and creamy confection that is similar to caramel, which is made by slowly heating sweetened milk or condensed milk until it thickens and turns a deep golden brown through caramelization and the Maillard reaction.
Dulce de leche is a beloved staple in Latin America that is used as a topping, filling, or standalone treat in desserts like tarts, crepes and ice cream, which offers a mellow, toffee like flavor distinct from traditional caramel.
Condensed milk turns into dulce de leche by slowly cooking sweetened condensed milk until the sugars caramelize, which turns it into a thick and golden brown rich sauce or spread.
Dulce de leche is sweetened condensed milk that has undergone transformation, becoming a decadent treat that is similar to caramel but with a unique and milky depth from the Maillard reaction.
To make the condensed milk, the water in the milk is removed or condensed from the milk through evaporation.
The removal of the water from the milk through evaporation is what makes the milk thick and concentrated.
Then sugar is added, creating the very sweet and syrup like product in the desserts that the condensed milk is used in.
The resulting very sweet and syrup like product known as condensed milk is what gives it the full name of sweetened condensed milk.
Although it's mostly just called condensed milk.
And the high sugar content and lack of water in the condensed milk, create a long lasting, stable and dense dairy product.
The process of turning milk into condensed milk includes, evaporation, adding sugar and canning of the condensed milk.
To make condensed milk, fresh milk is heated in a vacuum evaporator, which removes around 60% of the milks water content without scorching it.
Then a large amount of sugar or around 40% to 50% is mixed in, which creates a thick and sweet syrup.
The mixture is then canned and sealed, which gives it a long shelf life without refrigeration needed.
The condensed milk name directly reflects the process in which the milk has been condensed or reduced in volume and in it's most common form, sweetened.