dulce de leche

4 August 2009, 10:40

making dulce de leche. the very thought of making it is enough to send most people crying into a corner for fear of exploding cans and shards of metal and molten caramel everywhere. but one taste of the magical golden awesomeness and you’re hooked. and so one dreary afternoon i attempted to boil a can of condensed milk and punched holes on top so that it wouldnt explode. it didnt explode but water got into the holes which made my dulce de leche crystalise. so second attempt: peel off the label on the can, completely submerge cans in water, cover with lid and let em boil away (edit: simmer) for 3 hours, topping up water if you need to. and ignore the rattling sounds (edit: yas says to put a tea towel on the bottom to prevent the rattling)

and tadah! mah tin of dulce de leche! oh look at its sugary awesomeness! so golden! so beyootiful! edit: WARNING! do NOT open the can straight away unless you want molten hot dulce de leche everywhere! leave it to cool down for several hours yeah? trust me.

a spoon a day makes chocolatesuze so very happy…

hahaha you make it look soo easy!! I reckon it would do great with everything, e.g. Ice cream, fresh fruits, crunchy warm baguette, croissants.. ANYTHING
— Linda Aug 4, 11:55 AM #
I’ve made it before and I was freaking out. I did it outside in a huge pot full of water. It was a success.. It’s so worth it..
— Katherine Aug 4, 12:40 PM #
Haha yay looks delish, told ya no holes was the way to go! :) I put the lid on my pot of water too so that I don’t have to top it up as often. I think I overdosed on dulce over the weekend though :|
— Steph Aug 4, 12:45 PM #
boiled condensed milk = dulche de leche?!? had no idea!
— aptronym Aug 4, 12:53 PM #
so thick! so caramelised! i can almost taste it and i’m almost (sort of) convinced enough to try it… except that my mother would kill me if she caught me boiling tins in her kitchen O_o
— shez Aug 4, 12:55 PM #
i don’t know if it tastes the same but there’s a caramel topping by nestle. also, i’ve seen a version where the product is baked in the oven, try that too :)
— audz Aug 4, 12:58 PM #
Here’s a tip, place a tea towel at the bottom of the pot and you won’t be disturbed by the rattling! Andy Bunn gave that suggestion in his recipe for Banoffee pie (the caramel is made the same way). Most delicious!
— Yas (aboutthefood) Aug 4, 12:59 PM #
That looks fantastic; I lived on dulce de leche treking in sub 0 Argentina, cold has no chance against that much sugar!

Unfortunately my attempt to make was distracted by too much wine ….
RIP 1 saucepan :)
— Colin Aug 4, 01:08 PM #
Love the spoon shot! So thick and creamy. And it didn’t explode!
— Ellie@AlmostBourdain Aug 4, 01:11 PM #
Like aptronym, I never realised boiled condensed milk becomes dulche de leche! It’s pretty cool that boiling water can make the condensed milk go such an awesome brown colour! Does it taste different to condensed milk?
— Rilsta Aug 4, 01:24 PM #
wheee dulce de leche for breakfast every day!

yup boiling it in the can (without holes!) is so much easier/faster/cleaner/tastier. I still have a can of dulce de leche in the pantry I’m saving for some emergency banoffee pie!
— Helen (grabyourfork) Aug 4, 01:30 PM #
That looks delicious – but I would eat the entire can and then probably spend the rest of the day regretting it! How do you stop at just one spoonful?
— Katie Aug 4, 03:27 PM #
ooh, i never realised that dulce de leche was just condensed milk!! i’d be scared to make it cause i’d probably overdose on it! lol. congrats on making it work though, definitely worth it!
— Betty Aug 4, 06:35 PM #
ooh…yum, looks fantastic! Will definitely give it ago… Would you say you put it on high heat or a gentle simmer for the entire 3 hours?
— food-4-two Aug 4, 09:36 PM #
mmmm, how about dulce de leche with roti tisu? Genius – you bet!
— Moya Aug 4, 09:46 PM #
I am one of those people who are afraid of exploding cans but you make it look super easy. Is the trick just to make sure that there’s water covering the tins all the time?
— Jacq Aug 4, 10:09 PM #
Looks great! What do you have to do (or not do) to ensure it doesn’t explode???
— sue Aug 4, 10:33 PM #
Got a can right now to do. I want to make a bananaoffee pie?
— bethieofVA Aug 4, 10:43 PM #
Don’t you mean a can a day makes chocolatesuze happy :P?
— FFichiban Aug 4, 10:50 PM #
Can I order a can ? Looks awesome.
— howard Aug 5, 01:20 AM #
Oh my god, the colourrrrrrrr perfection! I didn’t know you can make dulce de leche by boiling them in a can! I’ve tried making one with sauce pan before – taking like FOREVER + all the stirring..

Woo another Yas! (I was like, when did I say that…?)
— Yas @ hungry.digital.elf Aug 5, 03:24 AM #
Wonder if this could be made in a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking time…
— Simon Aug 5, 05:29 PM #
linda: lol yeah it was easy just nerve wracking every time i heard the can rattle around haha i was so paranoid!
katherine: heh it’s the sounds! the rattle of the can! and then the image of shards of metal flying at me!
steph: totally your fault dude! saw your dulce de leche biscuits and HAD to make it!
aptronym: yup! sweetened condensed milk!
shez: so the trick now would be to do it when shes not home right? =D
auds: nah the oven way is cheating! lol its also more to clean! if u boil in can you can keep it in pantry for later!
yas: tea towel on the bottom? BRILLIANT! thanks for that!
colin: bwahahahah ‘cold has no chance against the amount of sugar’ oh lol! that’s gold!
ellie: im so glad it didnt explode =P and its so sooo tasty mmm
rilsta: hmm more caramel? imagine a semi liquid caramel? but more awesome!
helen: hahaha emergency banoffee now! stat!
katie: oh me too! i definitely didnt stop at the one spoon… more like half the can…
betty: hehe but its so tasty! i say eat half from the can and use the other half in brownies!
food for two: hmm bit higher than simmer but not completely full boil?
moya: oh totally! that would be awesome!
jacq: me too! i was so paranoid the whole time! but yeah my cans were completely submerged in water
sue: hmm i just made sure cans completely in water and then pray. and stay away from immediate explosion area?
bethieofva: oh yum! i might make the banoffee this weekend too!
ffichiban: so so true!
howard: HAHAHA seriously? dude its so easy to make!
yas: hehe perfection indeed! i tried in saucepan too cept it burnded too easily!
simon: it can but i dont have a pressure cooker. i think id be more paranoid lol but apparently it only take 45mins with pressure cooker
— chocolatesuze Aug 7, 05:03 PM #
Hey Suze,
Love all these interconnecting posts about your brownies. Just wondering if you have ever tried Nestle’s Top’n‘fill Caramel. It comes in a can near the condensed milks. Your dulce de leche looks exactly the same and was wondering if it tastes the same too.
— Anita Aug 7, 11:27 PM #
anita: thanks dude! i just bought the topnfill caramel to see what it tastes like so might go try it tonite
— chocolatesuze Aug 10, 06:17 PM #
I’m going to try this soon! Would rather make my own than buy one! haha Thanks for this and the dulce de leche brownies which are next on my list too!! (: love your blog by the way.
— Lianne Sep 19, 07:55 PM #
damn it! I knew I shoulda read this before I started cooking mine… I said to myself to check your blog to see what you did.. but nuuu I followed the book and punched holes in the top and I just know the water is getting in there! grrrr
Hope it still turns out ok!
— Iron Chef Shellie Jan 2, 04:39 PM #
Top and fill is horrible. Love to have the recipe for the Cahills Caramel Fudge Sauce from years ago. Yours looks lovely a bit frightened to boil the tin though
— sue Mar 23, 07:55 PM #

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