Dulce de Leche

Tonight I’m making dulce de leche which is basically condensed milk cooked in a water bath either in the oven or on the stove top. There are times when I prefer making it in a non-stick pan over low heat, constantly stirring till it achieves a light caramel color then I would toss in some chopped nuts, roll them in little balls and sprinkle with sugar and voila! I have nutty caramel balls. Wrap them in colored cellophane wrappers and they’re nice holiday gifts or simple treats on any given day. We also use it as topping for halo-halo in lieu of leche flan or there are times when you can see them together atop the shaved ice concoction. I’ve used it as filling for pan dulce, as ice-cream topping; a spread for crackers or just eat it straight from a spoon. There are so many ways to eat or use dulce de leche and honestly I thought about it when we have so much bananas and Banoffee popped in my mind but then, I was too lazy to make the dulce de leche. Now that I finally made it, the bananas are all gone. The good thing is, I now have dulce de leche and anything is possible once I set my mind into it. Here's how to make it

Dulce de Leche

I used 2 cans sweetened condensed milk

Remove the labels from the cans.

Poke two vent holes in the top, by using a can opener. Milk will ooze out from the can but it's okay- that will tell you if it's done as the color changes from white to caramel.

Put the can into a pot (with the holes up), and fill up the pot with water until it is a quarter inch or so below the top of the can.

Put the pot on a stove and turn up the heat. Let the pot and can simmer gently for about one and a half to two hours for runny dulce de leche, and longer for more solid dulce de leche. Notice the color of the milk changing to light caramel

Add more water to the pot as needed.

When it's done, let it cool for a while, and then carefully open up the can completely. Right now mine seems to be runny and I want it a little bit thicker.7

More later ....
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After an hour...

This is more like it! Stay tuned for Dulce De Leche inspired dessert(s)?