Dulce de Leche

[Darienne]

So a dessert is made: 1 1/2" in diameter, made in tiny muffin pans in gold papers which I had on hand. Graham cracker crumb crust, one banana coin, a dollop of dulce de leche heated and thinned with cream to make it pliable and topped with plain bittersweet chocolate ganache, around 65%.

Next time?. No cracker crumb crust. Better a real pastry crust by far, both for handling and for taste.

I made them this small because I feared the sweetness of the DDL would just overwhelm everything else. Which it didn't because there wasn't all that much of it per tartlet. But the crust was the wrong taste for the rest of it.

End of story. I put them in the fridge and the plate, which seemed balanced, waren't nohow and when I next looked I had a great mess of little tarts all smushed into each other. What a mess. I rescued a few of the relatively unscathed for the group portrait.

Insult to injury, a terrible photo. Remember...they're only 1 1/2" across.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[Kouign Aman]

Why does ddl get clear crystal 'rocks' in it after extended storage?

What is crystalizing out? Its not sugar.

Tri2Cook, i also taste a metallic flavor, tho different w differnt brands of scmilk.

Magnolia and Eagle do well. Some other brands were too metallic to enjoy.

Along the lines of a Nutella sandwich, has anyone tried making a Dulce de Leche sandwich?

[Kerry Beal]

Total brain fart today - decided to the Banana Pudding DDL linked to by Andi above - started by making a crumb crust - then realized I was in the wrong recipe. So continued - figuring I'd just put the pudding in the crust. Found I had no heavy cream so subbed some mascarpone and a bit more milk. Can't find the bottle of amaretto so put some amaretti cookies on the crust.

So now I've got a banana pudding meringue pie in a crumb crust. Shall take it to work and report back later.

Well - it was not a thing of beauty - it didn't cut worth a damn - but by god it was tasty! Suspect that banana bread may never get made again from my old ripe bananas. I think next time I'll make it as a pudding instead of a pie however - but use the amaretti cookies in place of the nilla wafers the recipe calls for.

[nickrey]

It seems that this would be perfect being cooked sous vide, possibly around 85C (185F). It would be set and forget with no chance of exploding cans, etc.

Has anyone tried it?

[JTravel]

Someday I will gather up those cans that tend to get lost in the back of the cupboard and try either the microwave, or the oven, "open can" method. Have done the boiled can, it's time to try something new.

In the meantime I found a tiny Mexican store open on Father's Day in a pretty small town. The young guy who waited on me said "we don't get many New Yorkers in here.....and asked how I was going to use the things I bought. I bought a can of Nestle Dulce de Leche, and a squeeze bottle of goat milk cajeta. (along with a can of El Pato from another thread, some crema, and queso fresca) Would do a comparison, but the squeeze one may be all gone before I get to it. Much darker than I'm used to, and very silky. Slides right into a spoon. I'm used to thinking of cajeta as a semi solid substance in a cup, usually with a little spoon attached. But this stuff is GOOD.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Along the lines of a Nutella sandwich, has anyone tried making a Dulce de Leche sandwich?

They're faboo with peanut butter.

[andiesenji]

Along the lines of a Nutella sandwich, has anyone tried making a Dulce de Leche sandwich?

They're faboo with peanut butter.

It's excellent with Boston brown bread that has been lightly spread with cream cheese. Lovely combination of flavors. You can even lightly toast the brown bread but it isn't necessary.

Check this link - consider Whoopie pies made with DdC.

Edited June 21, 2011 by andiesenji (log)

[Jim D.]

I am making dulce de leche for the first time, using David Lebovitz's directions (pour can of sweetened condensed milk into pan and bake in water bath for 60-75 minutes). I just reached the 75-minute mark, and the stuff is getting darker in color but is still quite thin in texture. I have never seen dulce de leche, but assumed it would be considerably thickened when complete. I am going to use it in making Peter Greweling's Dulce de Leche Coffee Truffles (just had some success with a new and very intimidating polycarbonate truffle mold). Perhaps the DdeL thickens as it cools?

Thanks for any advice on the proper texture of dulce de leche.

[Ttogull]

I've never made it but I have eaten it. It should very thick, much like the caramel you'd put on ice cream. It should be about a tan color. Good luck.

[Mette]

The dulce de leche/coffee truffels are one of my absolute favourites - the dulce de leche should be the texture of Nutella at room temperature

[Jim D.]

The dulce de leche/coffee truffels are one of my absolute favourites - the dulce de leche should be the texture of Nutella at room temperature

Thanks for that clue. I ended up cooking it for 2 1/2 hours. I think the texture is right for use as a (somewhat thick) sauce. I haven't tried piping it into truffle shells yet; it may be too thick for that, especially since with shells, one cannot see how much is actually going in. I could always heat it up to around 80 F. to thin it out somewhat. In any event today's endeavor is a test, and I'll be making it for real later on. I am wondering whatever in the world I'll do with all that leftover dulce de leche.

[Lia Tumkus]

The real dulce de leche is made with milk, sugar and bicarb soda. The condensed milk is a good way to achieve similar results but is not the actual "argentinian/latin american" stuff.

Using condensed milk you can simply boil a can in pot with water for a couple of hours (maybe less) or you can put it inside of a pressure cooker and cooked it for half an hour. It's WAY easier than your method and consistency gets pretty right. You might give it a go cooking in different times, just to check at the diference.

[keychris]

you can also do it in a slow cooker for about 8hrs overnight, completely cover the can.

there's also a good recipe with a 'how to' guide over at joe pastry: http://www.joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/dulce-de-leche/

[Jim D.]

there's also a good recipe with a 'how to' guide over at joe pastry: http://www.joepastry.com/category/pastry-components/dulce-de-leche/

The Joe Pastry recipe is very interesting, and the instructions on texture are helpful. That version is much thinner than mine, and I would have to see how much it thickens as it cools to know if it can safely be deposited in a truffle shell. In the truffle recipe, Greweling calls for cooking the can of milk 4 hours--I think that would be very thick.

[keychris]

I did one overnight in the slowcooker, and when it cooled it was solid enough to stand a spoon up in. Tasted great, but possibly a bit too thick

[Ttogull]

A picture is worth a thousand words?

http://www.abritinecuador.com/2013/04/14/manjar-or-dulce-de-leche/

[Mjx]

Have you taken a look at andiesenji's recipe in RecipeGullet? Among other things, she notes that at the end of the cooking time, 'it should pour like honey'.

[Jim D.]

Have you taken a look at andiesenji's recipe in RecipeGullet? Among other things, she notes that at the end of the cooking time, 'it should pour like honey'.

Thanks. I had seen that recipe before but had forgotten it. The "pour like honey" comment is helpful. After a night in the fridge, mine is more the texture of fudge, but I think a little heat will soften it enough to use.

[Mjx]

If dulce de leche breaks, is it salvageable?

After reducing for about two and a half hours, water was added to it (it was intended as a favour, I don't want to go into it), and it is now has a very granular consistency.

Can this be saved? This took a quite a while and is a big batch (started from 5.25L milk), so throwing it away out of mere frustration does not seem the ideal way to go.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I've had good luck just taking the immersion blender to it.

[Mjx]

I've had good luck just taking the immersion blender to it.

YES! I was wondering whether or not that might work, and will give that a go. Thanks

[Mjx]

Followup: Even though the dulce de leche was looking really grainy and clumpy, the immersion blender (highest speed, about 5 minutes) returned it to a silky and fluid state, and cooking it another hour and a half, to the recommended consistency, gave beautiful results.

Elizabeth, once again, thanks so much. This was the first time I made dulce de leche, and for a while there, things looked pretty discouraging.