Dulce de Leche as a cake filling

[chow guy]

Thanks so much Andie. I will be trying this one very soon.

[pandorphus]

Wow, andiesenji... that sounds fantastic!! I am going to try that!! MAYBE for my next dinner party. Hmmm. It just sounds amazing.

I didn't try the canned dulce de leche for my cake filling, I was running too tight on time and had to get the cake done like... THEN, and it was for 50+ people so I wanted to do something I knew would be good.

So, I haven't opened the cans yet, but I cooked them over a week ago. How long does the condensed milk variety dulce de leche keep, once it's been cooked but not yet opened?

[andiesenji]

Fabulous, Andie.  I love it with goat milk, and have never seen a mixed-milk recipe.  I'll be making this for sure.  I'll have to double or triple it for my large slow cooker -  drat, I'll have too much DDL.  Oh well, I'm sure I'll think of somehting to do with it besides eat it with a spoon.

That's a weird step, adding in the milk at the last.  Do you know what that does?

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I don't know why the milk is added in at the last. However, when she first gave me the recipe I figured it didn't make sense and simply cooked it in with the rest.

The results were okay but the cajeta had a tough skin on the top after it had been in the fridge for a day.

After that, I have made it as instructed and it did not develop that tough skin.

All I can think is that the casein in the uncooked milk keeps that from happening.

[Abra]

Thanks - I would probably have blown off that step too, so I'm glad to learn from your experience and not have to have tough cajeta myself.

[lfujii]

My husbands family is from Argentina, and my mother in law being a great cook, instructed me on a few pointers for succesful Dulce de Leche.

The condensed milk method: You can perfectly boil various cans of condensed milk at the same time but you have to keep them covered with boiling water at all times. When we make it, as the water of the pot evaporates we gradually fill it so the cans are never exposed outside of the water. We have never had explosions and we've made a lot (I boil it 3 1/2 hours). To test the correct thickness and consistency, let it cool Completely (it thickens more if refrigerated) so bear in mind what type of cake you are making, the room temperature or refrigerated kind. If its to thin when cooled and opened, I put it in a small stainless steel pan and over VERY VERY low heat (a baine marie might work) i CONSTANTLY stir it to the desired consistency bearing in mind that it will thicken more when cool. At this point (before the desired consistency is reached) I add any optional flavoring (Rum or Vanilla).

The Fresh Milk method: the proportions given before work great. In Argentina, a copper pan is preffered because of the heat conductive quality it posseses. Baking soda is added to help give that beautiful caramel color (it reacts with the heat). Constant stirring is a must because the milk and sugar can easily burn creating a lumpy final product. I know that substituting an amount of sugar with corn syrup benefits the final product but I don't know the proportion (I know it's not much). I've heard that raw milk is a must (don't know the exact reason) and reconstituted powdered milk can't be used because it lends and udesirable texture. The whole process can take 1-2 hours (stirring that long can be tiresome). In Argentina, theres a Bakers Dulce de Leche variety which is thicker and more stable. The thickening agents are generaly agar agar, carragenin (other similiar products).

Comparing both: In this country (Dominican Republic) Dulce de Leche filled cakes rank among the best sellers. Tender, soft cake filled with dulce de leche frosted with Italian Meringue or 7 minute icing. The cake can be moistened with simple syrup flavored with Rum. Fresh strawberries go very well as part of the filling with this cake. The cake can be chocolate cake filled with dulce de leche and optional strawberries (very, very rich and delicious). Almost all the bakeries use the condensed milk method. The cakes hold up nicely and the filling behaves quite well. However, theres a very popular dessert here called tres leches (sponge cake seeped with a sweet mixture of three milks, condensed, evaporated and cows milk, topped of with Italian Meringue). A variation of this dessert is topping it off with dulce de leche and pipings of Italian Meringue. The condensed milk dulce de leche tends to melt into the Tres Leches but the one made with fresh milk tends to be more stable. Don't know why and in your case this piece of information might not be necessary because condensed milk Dulce de Leche works great on cakes, but anyway, sharing information.

Hope this is useful, any questions, just ask

Edited March 28, 2005 by lfujii (log)

[Wendy DeBord]

Yes, that was a very good post Ifujii and welcome to eGullet Society For Arts & Letters!!

[CanadianBakin']

I tried the sweetened condensed milk version the other day with great success! When boiling it I laid the can on it's side and the boiling water moved it around a bit. I boiled it for about 3-1/4 hours, took it off the heat and left it in the water to cool because I didn't have time right then to deal with it. It turned out perfect! Deep, caramel colour all the way through, very thick and smooth. I used it as a ribbon of flavour through some biscotti.

[NhumiSD]

Which brings me to a question about the recipe shared above from Saveur.  It calls for baking soda instead of salt.  Does anyone here know what difference this would make to the recipe?

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Baking soda is a browning agent in addition to a leavener. I'm guessing it helps with the color of the finished product.

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Hi all,

This is what I believe happened if it turned a brown color. Baking soda will cause it to be alkaline, high pH, and there are reactions that causes browning of proteins (quite possibly the milk proteins) at a high pH.

Or, the browning color can be due to just the sugars browning under heat and pressure.

Be careful since anything being pressurized and cooled too fast can cause it to explode, though Iam not sure how much heat is applied. I dont see how evaporation could be a cause, though its more of the changes in the proteins, such as in the graininess could be the proteins and proteins interactions.

-Nhumi

[julietagonzalezb]

Hi, I'm a pastry chef from Argentina and DDL we use for comercial use, such as filling cake and alfajores (two cokkies filled with DDL), a thicker one that you can't make it at home. You can try to keep it cooking until

Dulce de leche

2 lt de whole milk

700 g sugar

300 g liquid glucose

1 vainilla seed

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Baking soda prevents from cristalization of sugar.

The colour of the DDL is from the sugar (Maillard reaction).

Procedure

Put in a pan the milk, sugar, glucose an vanilla seed opened.

Put in low heat and let it boil for one hour, here in argentina we use little balls of glass, that we put inside the pan and when al the mixture boils, they kept from the sugar and milk burn in the bottom. You can remove it with a wood spatula or spoon

When the hour has passed, add the baking soda. Continue cooking it for 30 or 60 minutes more, and removing from time to time.

To recognize when it's done you have to put a small portion in a small plate and move the plate, if it slides hardly, it's done, if not keep on boiling.

Remove from heat and put inside esterilized glass jar. Let it cool and put in fridge.

I think this DDL should work for filling cakes.

Sorry for my english.

[sarah o]

I posted this recipe last October. 

I also took a quart of this dulce de leche to the eG potluck at Tejon's. 

Once you try this you won't want to fiddle around with the cans of condensed milk.  This is the real cajeta and is delicious.

Here is an authentic Mexican recipe as made by Mrs. Obregon, my neighbor, who loves her slow-cooker which she says is muy sympatico.

DULCE DE LECHE - SLOW COOKER

1 Mexican (or other) vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 cups regular goat milk, do not use low fat

2 cups regular milk

1 2/3 cups cane sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in ¼ cup water

Mix the milks together in a quart measure.

Pour 3 cups of the milk (refrigerate the remaining cup) into the slow cooker and add the vanilla bean and sugar and turn heat control to high and mix with a whisk to make sure the sugar has dissolved.

As soon as the mixtue has warmed to about 140 degrees, add the water with the baking soda and whisk again.

Do not cover the cooker.

Continue cooking for about 8 hours, gently stirring about every 2 hours.

Remove the vanilla bean, wash it and set it aside to dry and stick it into your sugar canister to flavor the sugar.

Meanwhile, with a silicone high temp spatula, scrape down the crust that has formed on the sides and stir it into the mixture.

If foam forms do not remove it, simply stir down into the mixture.

Reduce the temperature to medium and continued cooking. Stir occasionally, about every 15-20 minutes until the mixture has thickened, it should pour like honey.

This should take about 2 hours.

Near the end of this time, warm the remaining cup of milk in a small saucepan then stir into the mixture in the slow cooker. Mix well and transfer to a sterilized quart jar and place the cap lightly on the jar, do not seal.

Allow it to cool to room temperature then tighten cap and refrigerate.

It will keep for three months in the refrigerator.

To make a cake filling, cook 1 cup gently over very low heat or in a double boiler for about 45 minutes.  It should be thick, even while hot and the consistency of soft caramel. 

It should not soak into the cake. 

First chill your cake, or at least the bottom layer. 

Pour the cajeta into the center of the cake layer and gently spread it out to the edge then add the top layer. 

Finish as you wish.

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Made Andies DDL with the goat milk , and it came out wonderful.

Thanks

Also did the canned sweetened condensed milk and that came out very well also.

[Wendy DeBord]

Welcome to The eGullet Society For Arts & Letters Juiletagonzalezb!

Do you follow that method for volume baking also? Or perhaps theres an easier way to make larger quantities in a professionally equiped kitchen?

[fifi]

*bump*

Bumping this back up because it seems to be that season again. The sweetened condensed milk is on sale again and I have 10 cans bubbling away. I got the great idea to use my pasta cooker, which will hold 10 cans in the strainer insert, to simmer the unopened cans. I simmer for 4 hours to get a thick product and thin if necessary to use for a sauce. When the time is up, I will remove the strainer (carefully) and set it aside to let it cool. The occasion here is for a BBQ birthday party where pumpkin ice cream will be served with the DDL sauce for dessert. The guests will go away with packages of smoked pork and a can of DDL with a big bow tied around it.

For my next project, probably for around Christmas, I am going to fulfill my promise to myself and try Andie's recipe. I think I will have to get some fancier containers for that one.

[andiesenji]

*bump*

Bumping this back up because it seems to be that season again. The sweetened condensed milk is on sale again and I have 10 cans bubbling away. I got the great idea to use my pasta cooker, which will hold 10 cans in the strainer insert, to simmer the unopened cans. I simmer for 4 hours to get a thick product and thin if necessary to use for a sauce. When the time is up, I will remove the strainer (carefully) and set it aside to let it cool. The occasion here is for a BBQ birthday party where pumpkin ice cream will be served with the DDL sauce for dessert. The guests will go away with packages of smoked pork and a can of DDL with a big bow tied around it.

For my next project, probably for around Christmas, I am going to fulfill my promise to myself and try Andie's recipe. I think I will have to get some fancier containers for that one. 

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Last year I put one batch into some colorful xmas mugs I found at Pier One, cheap. Glad had just introduced Press 'N Seal and I covered the mugs with that and then held the edges down with some bright colored, shiny pony-tail bands (look like crinkly foil) I also found at Pier One up by the check-out counter.

[Worldly]

Tried the can a few weeks ago, and enjoyed it a lot. I found it a bit too sweet (as I do with a lot of desserts). Next time I'll do a can each of sweetened and unsweetened condensed milk and mix them, assuming the unsweetened will work. Does anyone know if it can be done? Is it the sugar caramelizing or is it something with the milk proteins cooking?

I suppose experimentation will do.

I only cooked it for 2 hours, per the directions I had, and found that it was very thick. I thought perhaps I would get a thinner product if it were not cooked as long - any thoughts?

Last but not least, has anyone tried this with evaporated milk, rather than condensed? Thoughts?

[Kris]

I've made dulce de leche this way:

I place 14 ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk in a dutch oven, cover them with water, bring them to a boil and once it's at a rolling boil (under a medium flame)- boil for 2 1/2 hours.

I check the pot periodically to ensure that the cans stay covered with water and I keep the lid slightly askew while boiling (not tightly fitted on the pot).

After the 2 1/2 hours is up, turn off the heat and let the cans cool to room temperature in the water.

I've heard of the horror stories that cans can explode by doing this, but I've never had a problem. *knock on wood* And I don't do it that often.

Now...when you open the can of milk, it will be a beautiful caramel brown and very thick. To spread it onto a cake I add a splash of vanilla extract to the can and stir it a bit, just to loosen the thickness up slightly. Do NOT overstir the dulce de leche or else it will be too thin and runny to use as a cake filling.

If you do not overstir it, it will be just fine in between cake layers. Just pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the bottom layer, put the dulce de leche in the middle and add the top layer. I haven't had any problems doing it this way.

Edited November 13, 2005 by Kris (log)

[Worldly]

Ok evaporated milk does not work! It does go a slightly brown caramelly colour, but it never thickens or tastes any good ... boo.

Oh well, worth a try.

[piazzola]

My wife always boiled the tin of condensed milk to get dulce de leche for good many years as we could not get any like from Argentina