Dulce de Leche

People. I must make a declaration. This dulce de leche is indescribable in the best way possible . I`ve always known my love for it since I first tired Haagen Dazs's dulce de leche ice cream. In college, whenever there was a sale, I would be in line to buy tubs of dulce de leche ice cream. Especially, during exams! My love for the ice cream was famous among my friends.

So, I have NO idea why it took me so long to make dulce de leche at home! I`m sure you have seen a ton of techniques to make this magicalness (yeah, I just made that word up), like in a slowcooker using cans of sweetened condensed milk.

I`m not one to lick things off spoons, like batter or Nutella. Is it weird for a foodie to not like eating Nutella by the spoonful? Trust me, I LOVE Nutella, but it`s too sweet for me to eat off a spoon. Peanut butter...now, that`s a different story. I can eat half a jar of peanut butter with just a spoon. However, this dulce de leche? It's completely and totally spoon-lick-able worthy.


If you didn`t know, dulce de leche translates to "milk candy" and it`s very popular throughout South America. Even though many people confuse it with caramel, it`s not the same. I guess people confuse them since they have similar ingredients...kind of like the difference between butterscotch, caramel, and toffee? Dulce de leche is not sticky in the same way caramel is.

The process of making dulce de leche is longer than making caramel, too. But, don`t let that deter you away from making it home. Even the from-scratch method is simple. There are several techniques. You can make it completely from scratch over the stove top, bake the sweetened condensed milk in the oven, or place the sweetened condensed milk in a slow cooker filled with water.

I chose the second method. I actually just wanted to make dulce de leche ice cream and asked my dad to buy two cans for me. However, instead of buying dulce de leche, he bought sweetened condensed milk...which forced (I say "force" in the nicest way possible) me to make it using the cans.

All I want to do now is add this stuff to EVERYTHING. Literally. Be prepare to see a lot of recipes including dulce de leche in the future. I`ve already used it to make four different treats!

Pleaseeee, I beg you all to make this dulce de leche. It's just too good. You know what my notes were for this? "OMFG. SO FREAKIN GOOD. SO GOOOOD." No lie. 

Dulce de Leche

Adapted: David Lebovitz | Yields: 1 ½ pint | Level: Easy | Total Time:  2 hours 45 minutes | Print 

Ingredients:

-          2 - 14oz cans sweetened condensed milk

-          ¼- ½ teaspoon sea salt

-          hot water

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 425°F. Prepare a large pan (such as a roasting pan) that will fit a pie plate.

2.       Pour all of the sweetened condensed milk into the pie plate. Stir in the sea salt.

3.       Cover well with aluminum foil tightly.

4.       Place into large pan and fill ¾ way up to pie plate with the hot water.

5.       Bake in oven for 2-2 ½ hours. Check every 45 minutes to make sure there is enough water, add more when necessary.

6.       Remove from oven and whisk until smooth.

7.       Transfer to a jar. Once cool, seal with lid and refrigerate until ready to use.

8.       Reheat small portions when you want to use.

*Notes:

-          To thin out the sauce, you can stir in a small amount (start from 1 teaspoon) of milk before reheating.