Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a thick, caramelized milk confection, served as a dessert on its own and used as a topping or filling for tarts, cakes, and pastries. It's made slowly, cooking milk and sugar down until they turn a deep golden caramel — mostly a matter of patience until the final stretch.
The dulce de leche is ready when it turns caramel colored and you can see the bottom of the pan as a spoon is drawn across it, or when a spoonful holds its shape on a plate.
Ingredients
Instructions
Put the milk, sugar, and baking soda in a large, heavy saucepan and heat to just below boiling, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Use a bigger pan than seems necessary — the mixture foams up when it heats.
Cook over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to thicken. Then stir constantly until done, about 2 to 3 hours.
If using vanilla extract, stir it in toward the end of cooking.
Remove from the heat and spoon into serving bowls. Allow to cool.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.
Notes
Use a large, heavy-based pan and keep the heat low. Too high and the milk will scorch or catch on the bottom.
It keeps about two weeks refrigerated in a sealed container.
To flavor with vanilla, stir in extract near the end, or use a split vanilla pod (add at the start and remove once the mixture begins to thicken), or replace part of the sugar with vanilla sugar.
Easier
Quick condensed-milk method: Simmer an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk, fully submerged in water, for about 3 hours (or about 1 hour in a pressure cooker), until the contents caramelize. Keep the can completely covered with water the whole time and never let the pan boil dry — a can that overheats can burst. Let it cool completely before opening.
Source
Dulce de leche is made across Latin America, with each country claiming its own version. Chile's manjar, Peru's manjar blanco, Colombia's arequipe, and Mexico's cajeta are all close relatives — the proportions of milk and sugar vary, and so does the flavoring. Cajeta is traditionally made with goat's milk, which gives it a distinctive tang.
The name dulce de leche means, simply, "sweet [made] of milk."
Food in America