Make Dulce De Leche

Dulce de leche (pronounced "DOOL-se de LE-che," meaning candy of milk or milk jelly in Spanish) is a rich and decadent sauce or syrup, similar in flavor to caramel. Unlike caramel, however, which is made by heating sugar, dulce de leche is prepared by heating sweetened condensed milk. Dulce de leche is especially common in the desserts of various South American countries, including Argentina and Uruguay.

To make this sauce on your own, the process is simple but can take a long time. This article will outline various ways to make this creamy, wonderfully sweet, and silky smooth treat.

Ingredients

  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Steps

In the Can (Simplest Method)

You may want to use the can method if you have an electric stove, or have no problem leaving a gas stove on for a while. This method will be much easier, since you do not need to constantly stir, but still requires supervision and patience.

  1. Remove the label from the can of condensed milk. It is no longer needed! If you leave it on, you'll get a papery mess in the water.
  2. Pierce two holes in the can with a can opener. Put the holes on opposite sides. Do not skip this step. Without these holes, the can may bulge and there is the danger of it exploding.
  3. Place the can in a small pot and fill it with enough water to come up to one inch (2.5cm) from the top of the can. You will need to add more water during the cooking process to make sure water doesn't go below this level as it evaporates. Don't let the water come higher than 1/2 inch (1.25cm) from the top of can, though, as you don't want any getting on the top of the can and going into the holes you pierced.
    • To prevent the can from rattling in the water (which can be annoying when you consider that it'll need to be in there for several hours) put a rag under the can.
  4. Place the pot on your stove and turn it on to medium-high heat.
  5. Watch the water closely until you see the water come to a simmer.
  6. Lower the heat to hold the water at a simmer. Some of the condensed milk might escape through the holes. If this happens, scoop it off with a spoon. Try not to let any spill over into the water.
  7. Wait. How long you wait depends on the type of dulce de leche you want.
    • A soft Dulce de leche takes about three hours.
    • A firm Dulce de leche will take up to four hours.
  8. Remove the can with tongs or an oven mitt and place on a rack to cool. Be careful when emptying the contents, as you can get burned.
  9. Open the can carefully with a can opener and pour into a bowl. The top will be more fluid, and there will be thicker, darker chunks at the bottom which will need to be scraped out. When everything is in the bowl, whisk together to make it homogeneous.

In a Saucepan

You may want to use this if you do not want to leave your stove on for a long time. The dulce de leche will take a much shorter time to cook, but it will require constant stirring and it may burn.

  1. Empty the can of condensed milk (or the milk and sugar mixture) into a small saucepan.
  2. Put it on medium-low heat, stirring continuously.
  3. Take your dulce de leche off the heat when you can turn a cooled tablespoon of it upside down without it falling off. [1]
  4. Scoop your creamy treat into a bowl and enjoy!

In a Double Boiler

  1. Pour the can of condensed milk into the top of the double boiler.
  2. Place the top over boiling water.
  3. Over low heat, simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until thick and toffee brown.
  4. Beat until smooth.
  5. Scoop into a bowl and enjoy!

In the Microwave[2]

  1. Empty the sweetened condensed milk into a large microwave safe bowl.
  2. Microwave on medium power for two minutes.
  3. Remove from microwave and stir with a wire whisk. Be careful; the mixture and bowl will get very hot and remain that way throughout the process.
  4. Microwave on medium power for another two minutes.
  5. Remove and stir again.
  6. Microwave on medium-low power for 16 to 24 minutes or until milk turns thick and caramel color, stirring every few minutes.

In the Oven[3]

  1. Preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C).
  2. Pour the condensed milk or mixture into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish.
  3. Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate.
  4. Cover the pie plate tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hours. Check during baking and add more water to the roasting pan if needed.
  5. Remove dulce de leche from the oven and let cool.
  6. Whisk until smooth.

In a Pressure Cooker

Brazil doce de leite (Portuguese for dulce de leche) is often made using a pressure cooker because it's safe and fast.

  1. Put a liter of water in the pressure cooker with a can of sweetened condensed milk. Don't punch any holes in the can, but remove the label.
  2. Bring the cooker to boil and wait for between 40 and 50 minutes after it begins to steam. Shorter time = lighter/softer doce. Longer time = darker/firmer doce.
  3. Turn off the heat and wait until it cools down completely. While the cooker is pressurized by the steam, its pressure will counterbalance the pressure build up inside the can, and prevent it from exploding. Let everything cool down before opening the pressure cooker. If you attempt to open a hot, or even warm can, an extremely hot jet of doce may explode out and result in severe burns. Wait until it is cool; then it will be perfectly safe to open the can and enjoy this great dessert.

In a Slow Cooker

  1. Put the can of condensed milk in the cooker.
  2. Add water to reach almost the top edge of the can
  3. Cook for 8 hours on low or until done. You can open the can and let a little milk escape. Then you can check the colour and consistency. You may want to lay a paper towel loosely over the top so that drips from the Cooker cover don't drop into the milk.

Variations

  • Cajeta - Mexican version of dulce de leche made of half goat's milk and half cow's milk; named after the small wooden boxes it was historically packed in
  • Dominican style - Made by mixing equal parts of whole milk and brown sugar and simmering over medium heat to the consistency of thick yogurt; poured into molds to set for several hours; texture similar to fudge
  • Cortada - Common in Cuban cuisine; eaten alone; lumpy texture
  • Manjar Blanco - Popular in Peru and Chile
  • Confiture de lait - Specialty of the Normandy region of France; mix whole milk with one half its weight in sugar; boil mixture briefly then cook over low heat for several hours
  • "Boiled Condensed Milk" as it's called in Russia is very popular and is used as a filling in the nut shaped cookies. It also holds the 2 pieces together in a shape of a round nut.



Tips

  • Use a liquid dulce de leche as a dessert spread.
  • Eat a solid dulce de leche directly from the can (or scoop it out into a bowl).
  • While the dulce de leche is simmering, you may need to add more water to replace the water that has evaporated.
  • When the sweetened milk is cooked, the underlying process that transforms it into dulce de leche is the Maillard reaction[4] which is similar but not the same as caramelization.
  • Hard dulce de leche can be used for cake filling or between two cookies dipped in ground coconut or covered in chocolate.
  • If you are cooking it in a saucepan, you can add 3 marbles(clean, obviously) to make stirring more effective.
  • Try using it as frosting on Make a German Chocolate Cake.
  • Dulce de leche is pronounced, phonetically spelled, "dool-seh they leh-cheh" or "dool-theh deh leh-cheh" (depending on which dialect of Spanish is being spoken).
  • Tightly covered and refrigerated, dulce de leche will keep for a month.[5]
  • Dulce de leche shrinks to about one-sixth of the original volume of the ingredients.[6]

Warnings

  • You must stir for the whole time the dulce de leche is cooking if you use the saucepan method, or the milk will scorch, even over low heat.
  • Do not use an unopened can for the first method. The can may burst. Even though this is a popular way to make dulce de leche, it is unsafe and not recommended.
  • Do not overcook the dulce de leche, especially if you use the saucepan method, because it will burn easily.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.instructables.com/id/Dulce-de-Leche/
  2. ↑ http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/getrecipe.zsp?id=75412
  3. ↑ http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2005/11/dulce_de_lechec.html
  4. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction
  5. ↑ http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/diy-recipe-dulce-de-leche-012558
  6. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_de_Leche
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