Dulce de Leche

Dulce de leche is the most common name for milk caramel in Spanish. I just call it delicious. It translates into "sweet of milk" and is really similar to a thick caramel sauce. It is common in South America and Central American countries and is used primarily as a spread for toast or a filling for pastries. I used in it in a couple of great desserts I'll share later this week.

I had been seeing a lot of recipes calling for dulce de leche so I thought instead of buying it, I would try making it. If you have the time, it's worth it to "make" it. It really is the easiest thing. There are a few different ways you can make it, but I followed Dave Lebovitz' recipe and it turned out terrific.

Ingredients

• one can sweetened condensed milk
• a few flecks of sea salt

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
• Pour one can 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 1.5 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.