Dulce de leche

Living in Japan as I do, I can only watch from afar as food trends sweep North America. They rarely make it here, and I find myself variously wishing they would (beets, chipotle peppers, Pink Berry style frozen yogurt, Fair Trade goods) and hoping that they never will (cupcakes). But some trends pass right by without me ever getting wind of them, and that almost happened with dulce de leche, a caramel-like delicacy that everyone seems to know about except me. It was only from a Japanese blog (via a couple of Japan-based English language blogs) that I found about about it, and I'm so glad I did.

There are a number of ways to make it, but the method introduced in the above-mentioned blog is the most appealing due its amazing simplicity: you simply boil a can of sweetened condensed milk for a few hours. Although the condensed milk manufacturers and other official food people warn not to do it, as there is a risk of the can exploding, it seems that is still the method of choice for home cooks, especially in South America, where dulce de leche originated. And after doing a little research it seems that following proper procedure will prevent a sticky explosion.

All you do is take a can of condensed milk (not evaporated milk: it must be sweetened), remove the paper label if there is one, put it in a deep pot and cover well with water. Don't open the can, and make sure there are at least a few inches of water covering it. Then cover the pot with a lid and boil for two to four hours, checking periodically to make sure the water level stays above the can (if it gets near add more water). Two hours of boiling will get you a thinner, saucier texture, and four hours will result in a more solid texture. When the time is up, remove the can with tongs and let it cool for several hours--do not open while it's hot. That's it! Those who are worriedabout letting the water get too low can use a pressure cooker, which completely eliminates the risk of explosion, or search online for a "safe" recipe (which basically involves cooking milk and sugar--or the contents of a can of condensed milk--over a double boiler--where's the fun in that?).

I made some yesterday morning, boiling for four hours. That may seem like a long time but I had the morning off and in the kitchen anyway making jam, so letting a pot boil took no extra effort at all. I hadn't fully researched and didn't know the boiling time varied so much, so I went for the full four hours (I was actually hoping the longer cooking time would result in aricher, more caramelly flavour, but apparently that's not how it works).

And last night we tried it for dessert. I let Hideaki have the honour of opening the can, and because he didn't know a thing about it he was shocked to see the color. And although I was expecting it, I was surprised too: it really was a caramel colour. 

We each took a tiny spoonful to taste, and ending up digging in several more times. The flavour was wonderful and the only thing that stopped us from eating the whole can was the texture--a little too firm, reminding me of the icky fake gelatin-thickened pudding we get back home. This type of dulce de leche is definitely meant to be used as a spread or in cooking, and next time I will try a shorter boiling time to get a softer texture.

But the taste was beautiful, and spread over a lightly toasted baguette it was divine. Spread over a lightly toasted baguette and then re-toasted until the edges got a bit bubbly: well, I tend to run out of adjectives when trying to describe really good food, so I won't even attempt it. But I'm pretty sure I had my first mouth orgasm. It was that good.

Dulce de leche, I don't know where you've been all my life, but now that you're with me I'm a happy girl.   

JapanSoc it!

Comments

[J]

Hi, I have been stalking your blog for ages without commenting, and this post managed to bring me towards the light. Mmmmmmmm. (Japanese food is one of my favourite cuisine)

Dulce de leche (I think strictly boiled condensed milk is called something else, but I can't remember) is one of my vices, and wonderful with banoffee pie! Pity that it's 1am here...

[Nay]

Boiling a can of condensed milk has been around in Australia for years and years and years - although we just call it 'caramel'. We use it to make caramel tarts etc, and boy it is delicious!!

[Lisa]

I've seen the Haagen Daaz (sp) Dulce de Leche ice cream about in Tokyo (Pororoca stocked it for a while) and that is pretty good, too.

[Wendy]

Just wanted to ask...aside from risk of can exploding, is there any risk to boiling the metal can? Like will any toxins/chemical leech out?

[Ms J]

I think I just gained 5 kilos looking at that can of dulce de leche... oh my goodness...

[adora]

That's my grandpa's breakfast for 60-ish years!
He often spread butter on the toast first. Sometimes with peanut butter too, sometimes with jam, sometimes all of the above!
He washed it down with Milo and he lived to 98. Who says sugar is bad?

[joanna]

Wow, that looks like candy!

Adora, it appears from your grandpa's case that happiness is a preservative!

[Kate]

In russian this recipe is hugely popular for years!!!!!!!!!!!!
and if you whip it with butter (the butter has to be taken out of fridge for about 30-40 minutes - to make it easy to whip) - its gonna be amazingly tasty cream for cakes! (sooo many calories though..LOL LOL)

My mom makes a cake with this cream: one layer of sweet pastry (like for cookies...i dont know how to say it in english, but its like this http://www.millionmenu.ru/rus/recipes/collection/drecip1592/)
, next layer - meringue with nuts, third layer - this cream. And then she repeats layers for 3 more times!

Its soooooooooo tasty!!:))))))))))

[Helen]

I am a little leery of the boiling can method. Many cans (about 80% in the US, not sure about elsewhere) have a plastic liner, and the plastic contains BPA. Heating causes the chemical to leach out of the plastic. BPA is an endocrine disruptor and linked to certain cancers, and some countries are starting to ban it. I don't think a once in a while treat would probably be a huge deal, but just wanted to share the info in case you want to find out more.

[wheatlessbay]

You might like to try flan de leche. It's a little more work, but not much, and it's quicker. It reminds me a bit of Japanese savoury custards, except of course South American flan is very sweet.

[Hayley]

J already beat me to it, so I will merely second the vote for using it in banoffee pie. It is truly the trashy food of the gods.

[kat]

I hear that the Japanese have a "milk jam" which is similar!!

[Danielle]

I'm from Australia and have never heard of this in the can magic! I've done the double boiler thing but that's nowhere near as much fun and far more cleaning up!

Of course, I really, really didn't need to be reminded that this treat existed... lol

[Alexis]

I made something very similar just last weekend. It's called Mysost, a kind of Norwegian cheese made by boiling down the whey left over from cheesemaking. It took maybe about 5 hours, all during which my pot of simmering whey looked just awful (floating curdlets and all) but when it was done I had a creamy carmel-colored cheese that tasted very strong, sweet, and a little nutty.

Here's the guide I used for making it:http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Gjetost/Gjetost.htm
it really sounds like Dulce De Leche is a similar thing. In the fridge I've now got a small plate-sized wafer of carmelley cheese that bubbles nicely when warmed and turns back into creamy goodness.

[Gabriel]

That reminds me about a desert we have here in Portugal. It's called 'Baba de Camelo' which means camel's drool. The can of condensed milk is cooked and then after cooling it's mixed with 5 egg yolks and the beaten whites (white peaks). After that it goes into refrigeration again. It's very good too.

[Lidia]

Jeeez! I am russian and it seems that dulce de leche is a traditional russian recipe too! The process is the same...boiling a can with condensed milk. I have done that many times and it never exploded. I was told by my mom that the way to do it is to simply watch that the can NEVER sticks out of the water. Water must always cover the can. And also to ensure that the can does not bump against the bottom of the pot and make an annoying noise I always lay a kitchen towel on the bottom of the pot. In the former USSR condensed milk prepared like this is one of the most common ingredients for cake creams and icings. It is usually mixed with sour cream or whipped cream.
Enjoy your blog a lot! Thanks!

[carlyn]

Amy:
OK.....I'm trying the boiling can "thing" this weekend!!! Looks yummy.....I should think of something to do with the caramel...perhaps on ice cream????

[hyung lee]

Hi,

I am a Chairman of THE EAST Business Newspaper in the UK.
Is there any chance we could publish your articles in our paper and reintroduce them on our website, of course, with your full credit?

Many thanks and kind regards,

Hyung Wook Lee
Chairman / Editor in Chief
MBA(Edin)

THE EAST, The East Asian Monthly Business Newspaper,
Elephant Consulting Limited, 160 Central Road, Worcester Park, Surrey, KT4 8HQ, UK
Tel : + 44 (0) 7912 608 321 / Web site: www.theeast.org / E mail : info@theeast.org
Registered in England & Wales, Company No. 6254454

[Tammy]

Hi, love this blog...looks so good!

[Tom]

love the blog! if you love food, check out www.livingthegourmet.blogspot.com!

[Helen]

I made this today and it was so good! I made mine in the can, in my slow cooker. It came out a little lighter than yours in colour and was more syrupy.

I hadn't told my husband what I was doing so when I got him to open the can he was shocked at the colour of the goo coming out of the can. He thought the can was too old!

Thanks for posting about this, I'd never even heard of it before!

[Amy]

Thanks for all the comments and tips! I'm just amazed to see this is a well-known, old fashioned treat in so many places. Why didn't anyone tell me about it before? Oh yeah, and Dulce de Leche is one of my favourite Haagen Dazs flavours, and now I know what the name means. I do find it a bit sweet, and prefer the Bitter Caramel and Kokuto to Kuromitsu (brown sugar and Japanese molasses) when I can find them.

Wendy and Helen, good point. I also wondered about the plastic lining, but aren't all cans heated after sealing as part of the canning process? It doesn't seem like further heating could do that much more damage.

Helen, glad you tried the shock-your-husband trick too!

[Cercano]

Hi!!! I have to say that "manjar" or "dulce de leche" is very popular in Latinamerica, actually you can make it at home, it's very easy, my mom used to do it. It's very common in cakes and toast (yes, indeed)

By the way I've follwing your blog since a loooong time, it`s really good.

Greetings from Chile

[Keith]

It's so versatile. Have you tried adding it to homemade custard (Creme Anglais). Yummmyy