Making Dulce de Leche
Dulce de Leche means literally Sweet of Milk. Way before Haagen Dazs came out with a Dulce de Leche ice cream flavor; generations of Cuban children were eating Dulce de Leche as their "merienda" or mid-afternoon snack of choice.
It can be made by several different methods, and using regular milk which you have to first curdle, but the method I prefer is one that was made by my Cuban grandmother who taught it to my American mom and in turn was taught to me.
Our method is made with condensed milk. Condensed milk must run in the veins of all Cuban children because we all seem to grow up eating the stuff from the time we are born.
Our method is to boil it in the can in a stock pot. Some people will make it in the pressure cooker, and I have in the past, but since I like to make several cans at one time, I find a stock pot roomier and more convenient.
Some people express fear that the cans will explode when boiling in the can. They will if the level of water falls down below the top of the cans....so I don't let it get there. I make sure there is always plenty of water in my stockpot.
There are several methods for making it, but here is mine which is quite simple
Take label off the cans.
DO NOT make holes in can.
Put several cans at the bottom of a large stock pot - I usually make about 4 to 5 cans at one time, since it takes the same amount of time and energy.
Cover with enough water to at least twice the height of the cans - most of the time I add almost 3 times height of can, depends on the pot and how heavy the bottom is.
Bring to a boil and let it boil at a rolling boil about 10 minutes or so.
Turn down heat and let it boil at a slow boil:
1-1/2 hr for a softer more liquid caramel
2 hours for a soft caramel
3 hours for a solid caramel that you can slide right out of the can and slice (by opening the can on both sided and pushing with one lid end out the other - same as you would a can of cranberry jelly)
By always using lots of water, there is no need to keep on adding water while it is cooking and I don't even need to check to see if water has boiled down below to the can line....
PHOTO: Opening can at both ends, push the dulce de leche out of can with one lid as you would cranberry jelly. You get this consistency after boiling at least 3 hours.
Cooked cans can keep for months unopened without having to be refrigerated, but be sure to refrigerate after opening.
The above is the method my Cuban grandmother taught my mother and me and she made it for years and years and so have I with never having a can explode.
PHOTO: To make muffins or cupcakes, put part of the batter in mold, add a dollop of dulce de leche, then add the rest of the batter making sure you enclose the dulce de leche all around so it won't leak while baking. Then I added a cinnamon and brown sugar crumb topping.
It can be eaten as is, spooned right out of the can.
It can be used to coat a pecan half and then cover the whole thing in melted chocolate.
It can be a filling or topping for brownies.
It can be eaten with ginger cookies.
It can be eaten by dipping apple slices in it.
It can be used as a filling between two layes of cake or as a filling inside cupcakes or muffins.
PHOTO: For some reason I couldn't get the camera to focus right when taking this one, even after many tried...but left it so you can at least get an idea of what it will look like when the muffin or cupcake is split in two.
PHOTO: Served with Granny Smith apple slices.
.............and below it was served in a small parfait glass with Kona Coffee Ice Cream...........I'm sure that you can come up with other ideas for serving it!
