Friday, September 18, 2009

Dulce de Leche

It's very easy to whip up your own Dulce de Leche (or Doce de Leite), given you have a can of sweetened condensed milk on hand. (Of course, you can also make it from scratch with milk, but I haven't ventured there yet). I'm not in the "boil-unopened-can-for-hours camp; that's too scary for me to try. And when you're able to (safely, and easily) make it in the oven, there's no reason to boil un-opened cans!

I use a method from David Lebovitz, found here. And since Mr. Lebovitz lives in France, I used a can of sweetened condensed milk I picked up when we visited France this summer (just for fun and laughs). It's great to visit different countries and pick up fun souvenirs, like..... cans of sweetened condensed milk.

Dulce de Leche or Confiture de Lait by David Lebovitz

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop (Ten Speed Press)

Preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C). Pour one can (400 gr/14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of sea salt.
.
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. Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary).

Once the Dulce de Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, whisk until smooth.
.
Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm gently in a warm water bath or microwave oven before using.

**This post and photos are property of http://dishingwithdish.blogspot.com/ **

6 comments:

Susie @ Hick Chick said...

You are just mean to this dieting girl! LOL Just kidding. It looks amazing, I just want that spoon to lick right now!

Sonya said...

Oooh what a great alternative to the stove top!! Im so glad you shared thie! Are you able to get caramel candy where you are? I cant find it anywhere here. Im guessing you could use this Dulce de Leche for caramel apples maybe? I wanted to slice the apples and then dip outside into caramel and then into crushed cookies or something as a treat on Halloween. Do you think it would work?

What a Dish! said...

Sonya, it would probably work for caramel apples- it is a tiny bit runny, but it would get firmer if refrigerated. And, the longer you bake it, the firmer it will be (just dont' let it get too brown!) It would taste wonderful with apples. :)

Peabody said...

Mmm, homemade is the best.

Memória said...

Do you place the foil on the pie plate before or after adding the hot water? The way it's ordered in the recipe seems sort of dangerous haha. Is it okay to do it before adding in the hot water?

What a Dish! said...

Memoria, it is easier to place the foil on before adding the hot water. That's what I do.