Best Good Eats Dulce De Leche Recipes

Dulce de Leche image

Provided by Alton Brown

Categories dessert

Time 3h5m

Yield about 1 cup

Number Of Ingredients 4

1 quart whole milk
12 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Steps:

Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds in a large, 4-quart saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the baking soda and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered at a bare simmer. Stir occasionally, but do not re-incorporate the foam that appears on the top of the mixture. Continue to cook for 1 hour. Remove the vanilla bean after 1 hour and continue to cook until the mixture is a dark caramel color and has reduced to about 1 cup, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to a month.

Homemade Dulce de Leche image

Yield Makes 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups

Number Of Ingredients 7

Classic method:
4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Sweetened condensed milk method:
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Steps:

Classic menthod:
Stir together 4 cups milk, 1 1/4 cups sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon baking soda in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until caramelized and thickened, about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. (After about an hour, stir more often as milk caramelizes, to avoid burning.) Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
Sweetened condensed milk method:
Heat oven to 425°F with rack in middle. Pour the contents of 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate and cover tightly with foil. Set plate in a roasting pan and add enough hot water to pan to reach halfway up pie plate. Bake milk in middle of oven 45 minutes. Check water level and add additional, if necessary, then continue to bake 45 minutes more, or until milk is thick and brown. Remove pie plate from water bath and cool, uncovered. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.