I fell in love with dulce de leche while living in Spain, where my Argentinian friends introduced me to this delicacy.
Churros, alfajores, and pancakes, to name a few, dulce de leche elevate every dessert, and best of all, it’s ridiculously easy to make.
What is dulce de leche:
“Dulce de leche,” translated to English, means “sweet milk.” It is basically milk and sugar cooked for several hours until it becomes a thick and spreadable milky caramel.
Sweetened condensed milk:
To make dulce de leche, you will need only a can of Sweetened condensed milk. You can find it in the supermarket’s baking aisle or online. The most used brand is Eagle, but every other brand does the trick.
How to make dulce de leche:
There are many ways to make dulce de leche from a can, boiled and in the oven. Both give the same results, so pick the one you are more comfortable with.
Method 1:Boiling
- Remove the label from the can and clean the outside, removing all the glue. If you skip this step, the glue will stick to the pot and take an eternity to clean up. Please don’t ask me why I know that.
- Fill a pot with room temperature water and submerge the can with at least 2 inches of water above it.
- Turn on the heat and bring the water to simmer. Boil the can for 2 hours for a light caramelization and 3 to 4 hours for a darker and thicker caramel.
Very important: The can should be covered during the entire process. And otherwise, the can could warp or even explode, causing injuries. So I usually set up a timer every 30 minutes and check that the water is always 2 inches above the can; if not, I simply refill it.
Once ready, grab the can using kitchen tongs and place it on a cooling rack. Don’t try to open the can when it is still hot, or it could spray everywhere.
Give it a whisk with a fork to remove any lumps when it’s cool.
You can store the unopened can in the fridge for up to 3 months or two weeks if opened.
Method 2: oven
- Open the can, place the condensed milk into a pie dish.
- Cover the pie dish with foil and put it into a roasting pan filled with water halfway up the pie dish.
- Bake at 450° F in a preheated oven for a couple of hours.
- Check the color of the dulce de leche; you want the color to be a nice golden brown. Make sure to fill with more water when it falls below the halfway point, and continue to bake until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Like the previous method, leave the can cool at room temperature before opening.
How to use dulce de leche:
I usually eat the dulce de leche straight from the can, but if you have enough self-control, you can use it to fill donuts and macaron or decorate cupcakes.
Other sweets recipes you might also like:
About Author
