The toasty, caramelized sweetness of powdered milk is hard to ignore. While bakers know the kind of richness it can lend to certain desserts, few realize just how much of a multitasker it really is.

More than 54,000 children have been sickened, and four have died from tainted milk in China. David Barboza, The New York Times correspondent in Shanghai, China, says investigators are looking into ...