how to make dulce de leche

My mom and I joke that we both tell stories about each other to make ourselves look less crazy in the kitchen. She tells people "Oh, this is nothing compared to what my daughter does; she makes crackers from scratch." And when I make dulce de leche, I say, "Oh, no, this is nothing, my mom makes dulce de leche FROM MILK." (Which takes four hours or so on the stovetop, with frequent stirring, in case you were wondering what's so crazy about that.)

I make dulce de leche from sweetened condensed milk. Largely because it's easier for me to find sweetened condensed milk than it is to find dulce de leche in my neighborhood. Plus, it's $3. You can't beat $3.

And I use David Lebovitz' recipe from The Perfect Scoop, which is nice and straightforward. Some people cook it in the can. I am too nervous a cook to trust that alchemy. He has you open the can and pour the contents into a glass dish, sprinkle it with salt, seal it with foil, and put the whole thing in a water bath. After about an hour, you've got dulce.

 
(Water bath in this case means placing the 8-by-8 glass pan inside a 9-by-13 glass pan, with water halfway up the sides. Easy enough, right?)

Let it cool, whisk the pockmarked bubbliness out of it, and you're set to go.

 

Dulce de leche ice cream. Alfajores. Those dulce de leche crispies I made last week.

Easy peasy. And definitely not hardcore. Right? Not over the top at all, right? Or maybe, at least, only a little.

Comments

[Tish Cohen]

I boil the condensed milk in the can--but with the lid pried open a bit. But, yes, it's always scary and I'm always glad to survive it! Great to know your method.

xo

[Kari Becker Bonnet]

My mom always boiled it in the can growing up, but I could never bring myself to do that. I like your method much better!