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Cajeta -- making my own


jsmeeker

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I want some Cajeta. I thought for sure I would be able to easily track it down locally. I'm even pretty sure I've SEEN it a local grocery store while browsing/looking for other stuff. But I struck out this weekend. Of course, I only looked at two places. I was thinking of going to a supermarket that caters to the Hispanic market. But then the idea of making it myself came upon me.

I understand it's properly made from goats milk. So, I have to get a hold of that. I *think* I have seen that at Whole Foods. So, how hard is it to do? It seems like it's just taking some goats milk and sugar, and cooking it very slowly until it gets to the right color and nice and thick.

I plan on using it on roasted, very ripe (black) plaintains, as an ice cream topping, etc.

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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Hi Jeff, andiesenji once posted a recipe for cajeta:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=881663

I've only just become interested in making something like it, so I've no idea if it's worth doing yourself (haven't tried)... Good luck! :smile:

Mark

The Gastronomer's Bookshelf - Collaborative book reviews about food and food culture. Submit a review today! :)

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ancient mexican secret...

take a can of sweetened condensed milk, take label off. put whole, unopened can into softly boiling water to fully submerge for 30-45 minutes. let cool before opening.

open a can full of cajeta.

it isnt goat milk, nor is it wholly authentic, but most mexican cajeta is not anyways. this is how mexican grandmothers do it homemade.

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I want some Cajeta.  I thought for sure I would be able to easily track it down locally.  I'm even pretty sure I've SEEN it a local grocery store while browsing/looking for other stuff.  But I struck out this weekend.  Of course, I only looked at two places. I was thinking of going to a supermarket that caters to the Hispanic market.      But then the idea of making it myself came upon me.

I understand it's properly made from goats milk. So, I have to get a hold of that.  I *think* I have seen that at Whole Foods.  So, how hard is it to do? It seems like it's just taking some goats milk and sugar, and cooking it very slowly until it gets to the right color and nice and thick.

I plan on using it on roasted, very ripe (black) plaintains, as an ice cream topping, etc.

The Trader Joe's I've been to have quart containers of goat's milk. I'd even check your regular supermarket.

I've had good luck with the Rick Bayless recipe. I'd make it at least once at home in order to compare with what you can buy. I do like the tang contributed by the goat milk in the recipe I use by Bayless.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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I've had good luck with the Rick Bayless recipe. I'd make it at least once at home in order to compare with what you can buy. I do like the tang contributed by the goat milk in the recipe I use by Bayless.

I'd second that. You could also play with the spicing if you make it at home.

One piece of advice. As the cajeta cooks down, it gets kind of splattery, so I like to use an oversized pot for the cooking, say one that is only 1/4 full to start with.

Andrew

Andrew Riggsby

ariggsby@mail.utexas.edu

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The recipe I posted back in 2005 is entirely authentic and it works beautifully in a Crock-Pot, or any similar slow cooker.

My neighbor says when she lived in Mexico on their ranch, they almost always had a wood fire burning in the stove, day and night, and she often made cajeta in the oven or in an earthenware cazuela on a cooler area of an iron plate that was set over the firebox. (This was not a kitchen range, but a built-from-the-ground-up stove made of adobe bricks, iron grills and sheets of iron welded into a box for the oven.)

They have lived here for more than 30 years and she says she can't see wasting energy on cooking the cajeta for a long period in the oven when it works just as well in a Crock-Pot which uses less energy and one doesn't have to stay near the stove to keep stirring a pot over a burner.

The recipe is also in RecipeGullet:Cajeta made in a Crock-Pot

There is really no comparison between the real stuff and the carmelized, sweetened condensed canned milk.

It doesn't matter if it is going to be blended into something else, but when it is going to be the principal flavoring in a dessert, then you should at least try the homemade with goat milk at least once.

I believe that it is the long, slow cooking of the milk, WITH the vanilla bean slowly having its flavor extracted, that makes a great deal of difference.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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I've had good luck with the Rick Bayless recipe. I'd make it at least once at home in order to compare with what you can buy. I do like the tang contributed by the goat milk in the recipe I use by Bayless.

I'd second that. You could also play with the spicing if you make it at home.

One piece of advice. As the cajeta cooks down, it gets kind of splattery, so I like to use an oversized pot for the cooking, say one that is only 1/4 full to start with.

Andrew

Ditto. Although, in my experience, it took quite a bit longer than the time indicated in the Rick Bayless recipe. But, I am prone to over-stirring, so that is probably my fault. Tasty tasty stuff. I used it in a Tres Leches cake, and the leftovers were added to our coffee for a week of so - heavenly, I tell you.

Robin Tyler McWaters

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thanks. I think I'll give this a try if I can track down the goat's milk.

I don't have a crock pot (or other slow cooker), but I have a nice 7 qt. Le Crueset dutch oven. I'll seek out Bayless' recipe (his Everyday Mexican is what made me want Cajeta)

I've heard of the can of condensed milk in boiling water drink before, but Rick Bayless seems to indicate that dulce de leche isn't quite the same as Cajeta.

Anyone care to chime in on the difference (if any?)

Edited by jsmeeker (log)

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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I phoned my neighbor and she brought me a pint of cajeta from a batch she made a couple of weeks ago and canned.

She says that in Mexico she used only goat milk but her "Anglo" daughters-in-law and some of her grandchildren like it better when made half and half with cow milk.

Regarding the canned stuff, she says you might as well buy the ready-made stuff which is sold in most markets in Hispanic areas and on the shelf right next to the regular. Several brands are available.

I think I mentioned this in an earlier thread also.

La Lechera, Eagle Brand, Santa Fe and Coronado.

Celia says it is for lazy people........... :laugh:

They have a very large family and she currently is supervising several grandchildren with the help of a sister-in-law and her youngest daughter who is a student at Pepperdine but home today because of the fire.

I have lived next door to the Obregons for 19 years and I have never seen Celia sitting around and doing nothing. She brought the cajeta to me and perched on a kitchen stool for about three minutes, then stood while drinking a cup of coffee and watching me take these photos.

She suggested I try the cajeta as a "filling" in one of my pumpkin bundt cakes. Good idea.

Then she washed her coffee mug, hung it up and bustled out the door.

So now I have a pint of cajeta to play with and with absolutely no effort on my part.

It has a silky texture without even a hint of grainyness - something I have noticed in the condensed milk type.

gallery_17399_60_265229.jpg

gallery_17399_60_246619.jpg

gallery_17399_60_119646.jpg

Edited by andiesenji (log)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Lovely photos, andiesenji... Next time I make cajeta, I'll try the version you shared flavored with vanilla. The Bayless recipe I've made uses Mexican canela but I would like to try the vanilla version.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

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I'll chime in. Many central and South American countries have a "dulce de leche" type sweet spread. Some are just with milk and sugar and flavoring and some, like cajeta, have bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) to get a darker brown color. Cajeta also has variations, and the one with vanilla is the one being talked about in this thread.

Other names for the sweet are:

Arequipe, in Colombia & Venezuela (milk, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, salt)

Manjar blanco, in Bolivia and Panama, Chile, Ecuador, Peru (milk, sugar, vanilla). And of course, Dulce de leche in Argentina, Paraguay, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, República Dominicana & Uruguay (milk, sugar, bicarbonate, vanilla).

Doce de leite in Brasil (milk, sugar, lime juice/peel optional)

Manjar in Chile y Ecuador (milk, sugar, flour, cinnamon)

Cremita de leche in Cuba.

Confiture de lait in France

That was interesting, at least for me. I looked up wikipedia in Spanish, plus latin recipe sites.

But back to jsmeeker in Dallas.... you could try Lucky Layla's cowsmilk cajeta, locally made in Garland TX, or visit Fiesta Mart 611 W. Jefferson, Dallas; 214-944-3300 (there are other locations) where they have the goat's milk cajeta.

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I'd add that I have made andiesenji's recipe myself, and the results turned out very well. Tasting it now, the flavor is much more complex and rich than the commerical products available here. It was hard to fine a clean 8-12 hour stretch where I was around, so I actually ended up doing on two consecutive days, refrigerating overnight; it didn't seem to affect the quality at all. I don't have a crock pot so I just took a heavy bottomed aluminum sauce pan and cooked on almost the lowest setting on the smaller burner of my electric stove for 6-8 hrs, and then on the lowest setting for another 2-4 hrs.

I did get some goat's milk the other day though and am planning to make it again. Mine isn't quite as thick as it should be (it's a bit lighter than the one pictured); it was getting very dark when I made it, and had started to get quite grainy so I took it off what now seems a bit prematurely, considering the consistency after I added the last cup of fresh milk. I also think I took the vanilla bean out too early, we'll see what happens this time. I expect it will only be better if I make it properly the second time.

Edited by Gabriel Lewis (log)
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Do you have a Big Lots where you are?

I've found Cajeta there, it both the sherry flavor and the vanilla.

It was pretty cheap too!!

eta: a picture I dug out of my first foodblog

gallery_25969_665_175377.jpg

Edited by CaliPoutine (log)
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I found what I think is Rick Bayless's recipe

2 quarts goats' milk

2 cups granulated sugar

2-inch cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

Calls for bringing the milk and sugar (with cinnamon stick) to a simmer, removing from heat, adding the baking soda and water mixture, then back on heat, cooking it until it gets like mapel syrup.

Seems simple, and not too time consuming. I suppose I could half the recipe. Or, maybe do 1 qt goat milk (found quarts of goat's milk at SuperTarget yesterday) 1qt. regular cow milk.

andiesenji, can your recipe be successfully made on the stove top? I don't have a crock pot (although I could easily borrow one from my parents.)

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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I found what I think is Rick Bayless's recipe

2 quarts goats' milk

2 cups granulated sugar

2-inch cinnamon stick

1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

Calls for bringing the milk and sugar (with cinnamon stick) to a simmer, removing from heat,  adding the baking soda and water mixture, then back on heat, cooking it until it gets like mapel syrup.

Seems simple, and not too time consuming. I suppose I could half the recipe.  Or, maybe do 1 qt goat milk (found quarts of goat's milk at SuperTarget yesterday) 1qt. regular cow milk.

andiesenji, can your recipe be successfully made on the stove top?  I don't have a crock pot (although I could easily borrow one from my parents.)

You can make it on the stove top but you have to stir it frequently if not constantly AFTER it begins to turn color. If you have a double boiler, it is much safer because once it gets to a certain point, just before it thickens, it will scorch easily and the entire batch will taste awful and will have to be discarded.

I speak from personal experience because I ruined more than one batch by trying to rush the process - this was long before Rick Bayless, possibly it was one of Diana Kennedy's recipes

I found this recipe at this site that has traditional Mexican recipes.

It gives specifics that that I have never used, particularly since using the crock pot.

It has been so long since I made it any other way, I don't recall if I did the skimming bit.

and I have yet another recipe online but it is on a subscription web site

Leche Quemada

and I am not sure you can connect directly without subscribing - they do have a one-week free trial subscription. However I have found the articles alone are worth the annual subscription fee.

There is also a great deal of information on travel in Mexico that has been very helpful.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Talked to my mom last night. I'm going to borrow the crockpot. I'll make it this weekend!

But I'm going to also track down the commerical stuff picutred above to try it and see how it compares. (and also, I think my plantains will be nice and black before I will actually make my own)

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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My cajeta is in the crockpot right now with fresh goat milk - I'll let you know how it turns out.

This topic has inspired me, however! We're hosting a Argentinian fundraiser dinner and I'm thinking of doing a Tres Dulces de Leches. 1. Fried dulce balls with meyer lemon set on a soil of some sort; 2. Dulce macarons; and 3. some sort of a savory dulce de leche soup. Any ideas on making a savory soup?

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I don't recall ever using dulce de leche in a savory soup - I have used it in a cold fruit soup.

Considering the flavor, I would suggest trying a squash or pumpkin soup.

I make a carrot/sorrel soup (one way to get rid of a lot of sorrel, which volunteers all over my garden) which might benefit from the addition of some ducle de leche. Sometimes, if the carrots are not extremely sweet, the lemony flavor of the sorrel becomes a bit too assertive and I think the burnt caramel flavor of the dulce de leche would go very well with it.

I'll ask Celia when she gets back from church - (she takes several grandchildren with her to late Mass.) -and ask if she uses it in any savory dishes.

She makes a terrific sweet potato and roasted pepper soup/stew that is delicious. I have been meaning to ask her for the recipe. She uses the "white" sweet potatoes, not the orange ones that are usually called (erroneously) "yams." I know that she roasts the peppers and some of the potatoes, then mashes them. She adds chunks of cooked potato and possibly jicama to the soup, but I don't know for sure. It does have a sweetish, tangy flavor and a pinky-rosy color.

(just as an aside, I saw a true yam at the local fair a couple of years ago - the kind grown in Asia, Africa, New Guinea, Borneo, etc., it was five feet long and about a foot in diameter.)

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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Talked to my mom last night. I'm going to borrow the crockpot.   I'll make it this weekend!

But I'm going to also track down the commerical stuff picutred above to try it and see how it compares. (and also, I think my plantains will be nice and black before I will actually make my own)

You´re in Dallas? You should have no trouble at all finding it. It´s in most of the HEBs in Austin, anyway.

But they display it with the other ice cream sauces, for some odd reason. And not in the Latino/Hispanic section. But there are several varieties, including my favorite - cajeta in a squeeze bottle.

Yum.

:cool:

Edited by Jaymes (log)

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I don't recall ever using dulce de leche in a savory soup - I have used it in a cold fruit soup.

I can´t imagine it would work. By its very nature, it´s extremely sweet. That´s like asking for a recipe for a savory soup using a cup of sugar. Or a can of Eagle brand milk.

:huh:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Well, I am making my own right now. It's been going all freaking day. I'm not totally sure what colors to look for to know when the first stage of cooking is done, but I am coming up on the 8 hour mark and it is a light caramel color. Foamy on top. Crusty on t he sides of the crock pot.

So, it looks ok. Smells great. Tastes good. But isn't really thick. Not sure how it's gonna thicken up during the last two hours, and I think if I add in the reserved milk, it will be almost as thin as when I started.

Commercial stuff was a no go. Couldn't find it anywhere. No local mega mart chain. Not Central Market. Not Fiesta Mart. If this attempt is a bust, I'll try Rick Bayless's stove top version next..

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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Well, I am making my own right now.  It's been going all freaking day.  I'm not totally sure what colors to look for to know when the first stage of cooking is done, but I am coming up on the 8 hour mark and it is a light caramel color.  Foamy on top. Crusty on t he sides of the crock pot.

So, it looks ok. Smells great. Tastes good. But isn't really thick. Not sure how it's gonna thicken up during the last two hours, and I think if I add in the reserved milk, it will be almost as thin as when I started.

Commercial stuff was a no go. Couldn't find it anywhere. No local mega mart chain. Not Central Market. Not Fiesta Mart.      If this attempt is a bust, I'll try Rick Bayless's stove top version next..

It's possible your Crock-Pot doesn't get as hot as mine does. Also, how humid is your weather? Mine takes longer in the rainy season - we have had so little in the past couple of years I have forgotten to mention it.

Just keep it going until it has the consistency of thin gravy - that is, it will coat the back of a spoon and is slow to fill in the gap if you run a finger across it.

It will thicken as it cools, just as with many puddings. It should be the color of dark caramel.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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So, it looks ok. Smells great. Tastes good. But isn't really thick. Not sure how it's gonna thicken up during the last two hours, and I think if I add in the reserved milk, it will be almost as thin as when I started.

Commercial stuff was a no go. Couldn't find it anywhere. No local mega mart chain. Not Central Market. Not Fiesta Mart.      If this attempt is a bust, I'll try Rick Bayless's stove top version next..

I know you said you looked, but did you try at Walmart? I know I don't usually shop there for food either, except for a couple of items like cajeta (the Coronado brand pictured above is what I find -- but I buy it in a squeeze bottle). I would like to make my own because the commercial kind contains corn syrup as well as sugar. Keep us posted on how yours turns out!

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Well, I am making my own right now.  It's been going all freaking day.  I'm not totally sure what colors to look for to know when the first stage of cooking is done, but I am coming up on the 8 hour mark and it is a light caramel color.  Foamy on top. Crusty on t he sides of the crock pot.

So, it looks ok. Smells great. Tastes good. But isn't really thick. Not sure how it's gonna thicken up during the last two hours, and I think if I add in the reserved milk, it will be almost as thin as when I started.

Commercial stuff was a no go. Couldn't find it anywhere. No local mega mart chain. Not Central Market. Not Fiesta Mart.      If this attempt is a bust, I'll try Rick Bayless's stove top version next..

It's possible your Crock-Pot doesn't get as hot as mine does. Also, how humid is your weather? Mine takes longer in the rainy season - we have had so little in the past couple of years I have forgotten to mention it.

Just keep it going until it has the consistency of thin gravy - that is, it will coat the back of a spoon and is slow to fill in the gap if you run a finger across it.

It will thicken as it cools, just as with many puddings. It should be the color of dark caramel.

The temp was one of the first things I thought of. There was no guidance on temp other than the one that said to add the baking soda/water mixture at about 140 degrees. It took a long time to get to 140. I actually added it at about 138. It eventually crept up to 140. then stayed there for a very long time. But eventually, after 3 or 4 hours, it started to climb. 160, 170, 180. I think by the 8th hour, it was push 200. I guess I should have logged this effort.

By that 8th hour, it was looking good color wise, and starting to foam. So, I put it to low, and scraped best I could, the sides of it down. Then, it started to foam more. And more. The foam never really went away. I kept trying to mix it out, but I think that actually made it worse.

After 2 hours on low, I had light and foamy on the top, with a bit of "pure" stuff on the bottom. And it was thickening up. Definitely coat the back of a spoon. ( I actually did that test) I was going to hold off on adding in the reserved cup of milk, but decided to do it any way. This helped with the foam some, but it really thinned it out. I decided to call it quits and poured it out into a container. When I did that, I could clearly see the foamy part and the part that wasn't. It was like a beer with a big head on it. But after just a few minutes, the foam started to subside as all the air bubbles came out. but it's still thin.

All that said, it tastes freaking GREAT!! Smooth as silk. Really sweet. caramel like, but not exactly. No slightly "burned" notes to it. It's really nice.

is there anything I can do to thicken it up? What would happen if I put some it into a double boiler for a while? Would it thicken up? I want it to be somewhat thick when it's warm. (although it will be interesting to see how it is at room temp)

Jeff Meeker, aka "jsmeeker"

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Do you have a Big Lots where you are?

I've found Cajeta there, it both the sherry flavor and the vanilla. 

It was pretty cheap too!!

eta:  a picture I dug out of my first foodblog

gallery_25969_665_175377.jpg

Did you get them at Big Lots in the US, or Odd Lots in Canada? I'm hoping you meant Odd Lots--my mother loves Cajeta and Dulce de Leche and all that stuff, so if they have it at Odd Lots, she'll be very happy!

Anyone know where I can get goats milk in Japan? Maybe I can try making my own here.

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