Dulce de Leche, Who Knew?!?

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JustJoel

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I’ve seen dulce de leche in recipes before; I usually dismissed those recipes because a) I wasn’t sure what it was b)I didn’t know it could be made at home and c) I didn’t know where to buy it. But the other day I saw a recipe that I really thought I’d try that contained dulce de leche, so I did some research.

Turns out, if you use the traditional method to make it, dulce de leche takes a long time and is pretty labor intensive; it’s also a bit temperamental, it seems. BUT there is an easy way! It also takes a long time, between two and three hours, but there’s no labor involved and it’s foolproof (not that anyone here’s a fool, excepting myself)!

There’s no recipe, and the ingredient list is short:
1 can (14 Oz) sweetened condensed milk.
...
...
...
...
That’s all! You do need a fairly deep pot, and a lot of water. Bring that water to a boil, remove the label from the can, place it in the boiling water on its side, and let it simmer for two to three hours, checking occasionally to make sure the water level is well above the top of the can. The lesser time will yield a more runny syrupy product, the longer time will give you something more solid and spoonable. There’s a world of desserts out there, many of them elegant enough for a formal dinner party, in which dulce de leche plays an integral role. I can hardly wait to try some of them!

One thing that puzzles me though. The actual name of the milk caramel. If I remember my high school Spanish, “sweet milk” would be “leche dulce.” “Dulce de leche” would translate literally as “sweet of milk.” (Anyone remember that scene in Guys and Dolls in which Brando plies Jean Simmons with a rum laden drink of the same name?) Why such an odd (for Spanish) juxtaposition of noun and adjective, and why the “of?”

Anyway, do any of you use dulce de leche? Do you have any favorite recipes that employ it? Please share!
 
Dulce means sweet, which in English can also mean dessert. So, dulce de leche is a sweet / dessert made of milk. That's my best guess.
 
I've made it in the unopened can in the crockpot for years. DH loved eating it right from the can. Dulce de leche is popular in some Mexican desserts.
 
Dulce de Leche is sort of a simplified (one ingredient) version of cajeta - a caramelized syrup made traditionally from goats milk, sugar, a small amount of corn syrup, and some baking soda.. They are both made by cooking the ingredient(s) down, to a caramelized syrup. They can be used interchangeably in recipes, though the flavor of the goats milk in the cajeta gives it a unique and delicious flavor.
 
I'm curious as to how this caramelizes at such low temperatures. Seems it would thicken, but caramelizing seems it would need to go higher. I assume sweetened condensed milk is pressure canned, which already is higher temps.

I have some Eagle...might have to experiment.

How do you cook it in the IP, Ross?
 
According to Dulce de leche - Wikipedia:

A homemade form of dulce de leche is sometimes made by boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for two to three hours (or 30 to 45 minutes in a pressure cooker), particularly by those living in countries where it cannot be bought ready-made. This results in a product that is much sweeter than the slow-boiled kind. It is dangerous to do this on a stove: if the pot is allowed to boil dry, the can will overheat and explode.
 
I'm curious as to how this caramelizes at such low temperatures. Seems it would thicken, but caramelizing seems it would need to go higher. I assume sweetened condensed milk is pressure canned, which already is higher temps.

I have some Eagle...might have to experiment.

How do you cook it in the IP, Ross?

Here are 2 sites I follow..

https://www.simplyhappyfoodie.com/instant-pot-dulce-de-leche-caramel/
A simple method..

and..
https://www.pressurecookrecipes.com/instant-pot-dulce-de-leche/
A more in depth method and their research..
I find the latter site to be a go to for all things instant pot but, at my age, simplicity has its attraction..

Ross
 

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