Hot Milk with Dulce de Leche

[GG Mora]

I made a big batch of DdL for Christmas gifting and still have several jars left. One of the gifties asked what to do with it, and I ran down the usual suspects: serve it warm over ice cream, eat it off a spoon, lick it off your finger and uh....that was about all I came up with. But then I got it in my head that it would be delicious stirred into hot milk – sort of like hot cocoa only different. So I tried it last night. Guess what? It's deadly good. I can't wait to try it blended with some cocoa, or with a little rum mixed in. The kids aren't getting anywhere near it.

[fifi]

*heel of hand smacking forehead*

Oh my! What a fabulous idea! I have a couple of cans left that I didn't give away. I can't wait to try this. i am also going to call the lucky recipients of my gift and suggest this. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[KatieLoeb]

I made a big batch of DdL for Christmas gifting and still have several jars left. One of the gifties asked what to do with it, and I ran down the usual suspects: serve it warm over ice cream, eat it off a spoon, lick it off your finger and uh....that was about all I came up with. But then I got it in my head that it would be delicious stirred into hot milk – sort of like hot cocoa only different. So I tried it last night. Guess what? It's deadly good. I can't wait to try it blended with some cocoa, or with a little rum mixed in. The kids aren't getting anywhere near it.

*heel of hand smacking forehead*

Oh. My. God. I am so right there with you on this. This sounds too decadent for words.

Maybe like hot cocoa or hot dulce with a wee dram of your favorite winter Keep-Me-Warm spirit? Rum? Brandy? Bourbon?

Oooooohhhhh! I just got chills thinking about it...

[foodie52]

Yeah...I'm thinking that this may become my bedtime beverage , with a shot of Bailey's or Kahlua.

I'll get back to y'all in a few months when I am 10 pounds heavier!

[hillvalley]

This sounds heavenly and perfect for this crappy weather we're having.

Add a little Bailey's, some whipped cream.

yummmm

[beans]

This sounds heavenly and perfect for this crappy weather we're having.

Add a little Bailey's, some whipped cream.

yummmm

I'll echo that.

Bad weather here too -- in fact frozen rain storm turning into snow tonight and tomorrow.

[fifi]

I am thinking a good dark rum. Any suggestions for this non-expert on rum?

[SobaAddict70]

And try making it as a component for either a flan or a souffle.

If it's great with hot milk, it's even better as part of a custard.

Soba

[GG Mora]

And try making it as a component for either a flan or a souffle.

If it's great with hot milk, it's even better as part of a custard.

Soba

....as in the custard base for ice cream....

[Lady T]

Damn all. This could make me look forward to getting up early in the dark.

[fifi]

My grandmother used to make me "white coffee" when I was little. This was milk diluted by about half with water with some added sugar. The diluted milk has a much different taste than heated whole milk. I just put some dulche de leche in that and it was absolutely WONDERFUL. Sort of a childhood flashback with an added layer of decadence.

[bergerka]

I would just like you all to know that it is threads like this that have caused me to gain six pounds (that I am now desperately trying to lose) since my arrival at egullet. Damn you. DAMN YOU AND YOUR DULCE DE LECHE.

...where can I get some?

K

[Lady T]

Hispanic markets have it in jars. There's probably a recipe around here somewhere (Marlene? Is there? Hmmm?) for making it fresh from scratch.

[Ladybug]

We make these and call them steamers - basically hot milk, maybe a dollop of half and half, sugar and flavoring. Sometimes the flavoring has sugar in it (so obviously delete the sugar) like dulce de leche, plain old caramel syrup, chocolate syrup, etc. My recipe varies according to what we have on hand. I've made them for a long time for my youngest daughter who is small for her age. The doctors worried about her weight, so I was trying to fatten her up. These helped because at her age then (about a year old) she was much more inclined to drink than eat. She'll probably always be small, but I'm sure these helped her pack on a pound or two! My two older kids love them too but don't get them as often. I just tried a new one with milk, half and half and some of the syrup leftover from macerated strawberries. It makes those strawberry milk powders pale in comparison.

[GG Mora]

There's probably a recipe around here somewhere (Marlene?  Is there?  Hmmm?) for making it fresh from scratch.

The recipe I use was published in Saveur several years back. See here. I start with 3 gallons of milk, though, to ensure a plentiful supply of the end product. I only skim once. After making it several times and having to cook it much too much to get it thick enough, I determined that a traditional Argentine recipe is probably NOT best suited to Holstein milk (low protein). My guess is that a typical Argentine cow is of a breed that produces high-protein milk, and that multiple skimmings would be necessary to avoid making sludge. But over-skimming Holstein milk left it kinda wimpy. One skim delivered a perfect result.

[fifi]

Here is what I do...

Get several cans of sweetened condensed milk. Remove the labels and scrub off the remaining glue (so you don't muck up your pot). Put a dish towel in the bottom of a big pot and put the cans in. Cover with several inches of water and simmer covered for about 4 hours. The dish towel muffles the noise from the cans bumping around. The cover keeps the water level from dropping too much. Some folks are worried about the cans exploding but I have never had that happen in 25 years of doing it.

[KatieLoeb]

Here is what I do...

Get several cans of sweetened condensed milk. Remove the labels and scrub off the remaining glue (so you don't muck up your pot). Put a dish towel in the bottom of a big pot and put the cans in. Cover with several inches of water and simmer covered for about 4 hours. The dish towel muffles the noise from the cans bumping around. The cover keeps the water level from dropping too much. Some folks are worried about the cans exploding but I have never had that happen in 25 years of doing it.

This is the method I'm familiar with as well (although the dish towel trick is nice!), and it works like a charm and virtually effortlessly. You'll have cans of Dulce de Leche to your heart's content this way. They even keep on the shelf unopened once they're cooked!

[Jaymes]

In Mexican markets look for Coronado brand (or other Mexican brand) cajeta. That's the Mexican "dulce de leche." It's light years better than US products.

You can order it from

MexGrocer

It even comes in squeeze bottles which you can just hold over your ice cream, pound cake, apple slices, hot milk, etc.

[Jaymes]

Here is what I do...

Get several cans of sweetened condensed milk. Remove the labels and scrub off the remaining glue (so you don't muck up your pot). Put a dish towel in the bottom of a big pot and put the cans in. Cover with several inches of water and simmer covered for about 4 hours. The dish towel muffles the noise from the cans bumping around. The cover keeps the water level from dropping too much. Some folks are worried about the cans exploding but I have never had that happen in 25 years of doing it.

This is the method I'm familiar with as well (although the dish towel trick is nice!), and it works like a charm and virtually effortlessly. You'll have cans of Dulce de Leche to your heart's content this way. They even keep on the shelf unopened once they're cooked!

But it is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to refrain from opening the cans until they are thoroughly cooled.

[fifi]

Good catch Jaymes. I always forget that when this comes up. And I am the safety freak.

I guess it just seems obvious to me. Duhhh. It isn't exactly all that obvious.

[GG Mora]

Good catch Jaymes. I always forget that when this comes up. And I am the safety freak.

I guess it just seems obvious to me. Duhhh. It isn't exactly all that obvious.

I'm going to have to try the simmer-the-can method and do a side-by-side tasting with the long-suffering-all-day-burbling-sticky-mess version.

[KatieLoeb]

Good catch Jaymes. I always forget that when this comes up. And I am the safety freak.

I guess it just seems obvious to me. Duhhh. It isn't exactly all that obvious.

I'm going to have to try the simmer-the-can method and do a side-by-side tasting with the long-suffering-all-day-burbling-sticky-mess version.

Simmer-in-the-can is soooooo easy. And the results, in my experience, have always been excellent. I learned this trick from an Argentine chef that I used to work for. At the restaurant we used it as a dessert sauce, a plate decoration for desserts, swirled in ice cream (the BEST!), etc. Not a single guest ever complained that it didn't taste homemade.

[SobaAddict70]

But it is CRITICALLY IMPORTANT to refrain from opening the cans until they are thoroughly cooled.

Oh yes. If you don't, it'll make Suzanne's adventure with oil look like a stroll in the park on Sunday.

Soba

[fifi]

I just drizzled a little bit over buttered baked sweet potato.

[KatieLoeb]

I just drizzled a little bit over buttered baked sweet potato.

Holy Mother of God! You're EVIL!!!