A “butterscotchy caramel” is technically accurate, but fails to capture the experience of dulce de leche. Though it may have the luxurious body of caramel and a butterscotch personality, dulce de leche has a milky, exotically tangy soul all its own. Although there are many ways to make it, this recipe involves a slow cooker, and it’s so easy, you could probably train your German shepherd to make it for you.
What you need:
14-oz. can(s) of sweetened condensed milk
How to do it:
Strip labels from can(s). Place into the slow cooker. Cover can(s) with water by two inches. Set the slow cooker to “low” for “10 hours.” When time’s up, allow the cans to cool before opening them.
Dulce de leche will keep for a couple of weeks, refrigerated. Unopened cans can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 months.
Notes:
When purchasing the cans, ensure that they are not damaged or nicked in any way.
How many cans? You can cook as few as a single can, or as many cans as your slow cooker will accommodate, without altering the temperature or timing.
If you don’t remove the labels, they’ll disintegrate in the water and create a mess.
The boiled cans look interesting. I’ll stop short of calling them “attractive.” The Carnation can is somewhat better looking than the Eagle can, and its glue is water soluble. The Eagle can is slightly harder on the eyes, and it’s glue requires a solvent to remove … but the can has a pull-top tab. Note that if an attractive container is important to you, you could remove the milk from its can, place it into a small mason jar, and slow-cook that. In fact, you could fill mason jars with raw ingredients rather than sweetened condensed milk, and produce a more authentic, homemade dulce de leche that way.
Almost every recipe I researched for this post asks the cook to place the cans on their sides when heating them. I read that as the water boils, it will cause right-side-up cans to bounce, which is apparently noisy. Cans on their sides will roll instead, which is quieter. However, although my slow cooker did its job perfectly, the water in it never reached a boil vigorous enough (if at all) to produce any kind of movement.
I can fit five-to-six cans (depending on their orientation) in my big-ass (6.5 quart) Cuisinart war machine without stacking them. In order to get the recommended level of submersion, I need to pretty much fill the slow cooker to the brim with water, which means that stacking the cans is out of the question.
The 10-hour cooking period that I’ve recommended will produce a lusciously thick yet spreadable semisolid. It will have a slightly gelatinous quality and a sheen to it that caramel does not have. You could easily pipe it onto a cake. I’ve read that you can go as few as six hours, and get various lighter shades, milder flavors, and pourable textures.
Problems
You may get uneven thickening or some sugar crystallization. This might be reason enough to open and stir the finished cans rather than storing them unopened for long periods.
Sometimes, I’ll get a batch whose texture softens after 24 hours.
Important: do not attempt to open the can while still hot. Apparently, this can cause pressurized hot caramel to spray dangerously.
Rust may develop on the cans. It may not appear right away. Check unopened cans 24 hours after they’ve been out of the water.
Now, here’s an idea:
Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate: find an 8-oz, microwavable container with a tight-fitting lid. (I re-purpose jelly jars for this reason.) Add a handful of chocolate chips to the container, then pour milk into the contain to come about an inch from the top. Microwave one minute. Put the lid on the container, wrap the container in a kitchen towel, and shake like mad. Open the container. Add two heaping soup-spoonsful of dulce de leche. Put the lid back on, shake like crazy, take the lid off, and microwave for another minute. Put the lid back on, wrap the container in the towel again, and shake again, like crazy. Open the lid, decant into a souvenir cup from the Chicago Christkindl Market, garnish with a few salt flakes (if you don’t have flaked salt, skip this – normal salt won’t cut it), and enjoy.
Dulce de Leche
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything. In researching this topic, I came across excellent posts from Cupcake Project and Easy and Delish.
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Thank you for all the useful tips ! I haven’t made it for ages…. but I still remember how easy it was (and without a slow cooker, simply in a big pan ; slow cookers are not very popular here, though recently more and more people buy them). I also remember it was particularly delicious: I was using it in a millionnaire’s cake (one of those rare sweets I could eat all day long).
I always wondered what would happen if I cooked unsweetened condensed milk in the same way… would it change in any way? Have you ever tried it?
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That’s an interesting question. Never tried it!
i’ve never heard of unsweetened condensed milk; i thought that was the whole point – that it was sweetened milk. And I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t turn into dulce de leche unless it was full of sugar:-) Do you mean reduced milk? which is a different kettle of fish entirely…
I could eat dulce de leche right out of the tin :-))
angiesrecipes recently posted…Sourdough Challah with Grape Sourdough Starter
Me too.
hi jeff
gosh i haven’t done this for years! we used to do it as kids. just let a can boil away for 3 hours then open it so that the lava hot stuff could throw itself onto your cheeks… a friend still has the tiny scar on her cheek from a naughty can. isn’t it fabulous stuff? cheers sherry
sherry recently posted…Crunchy Nut Cookies/Biscuits
Yes, it’s fabulous, but don’t open it while it’s hot!
Jeff a great tutorial and great tips on making Dulce de Leche.
It’s interesting that sweetened condensed milk is hard to find here, but canned Dulce de Leche is available everywhere. The canned is Dulce de Leche very good, but when we were living in the US it cost a lot more than the sweetened condensed milk so I’d make mine in a slow cooker. Here, Dulce de Leche is cheaper than sweeten condensed milk (when you can find it). Go figure…
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Isn’t that interesting. Makes me curious about condensed milk’s history. So many old-timey American recipes depend on it. But it sounds like you have a good situation, because if I had a choice between condensed milk and Dulce, I would choose Dulce.
Golly, I haven’t made dulce de leche is years. And never in a slow cooker. This is the way to go, though — such a great idea. Thanks!
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Chili-Spiced Vegetable Stir-Fry
You’re welcome!
I’ve done this and am a big fan! I wish that dulce de leche-filled spoon was in my hand. And the Oreos, too! Why not? Seriously, looks so good! Cheers. 🙂 ~Valentina
Valentina recently posted…Pumpkin Almond Cookies for Halloween or Thanksgiving
Thank you!
wow. that is so thick and delicious looking! Have you ever made cajeta? I’ve only made it once, cause now you can buy it, but it’s caramelized goat milk. we used to go to Javier’s in Dallas (it’s still there) and order cajeta crepes for dessert. to die for.
mimi rippee recently posted…Calabacitas y Elote con Rajas y Crema
Yum! Never had it, but will seek it out!
I am not a sweet eater but I cannot resist dulce de leche. I just can’t have it in the house. I have even frozen it hoping I’d be deterred, no such luck. You’re recipe looks amazing.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Fig Tarte Tatin
I’m like that with ice cream. If it’s in the freezer, it’s all I’ll eat.
Tried this easy dulce de leche recipe with just one simple ingredient! It’s so sticky sweet and delicious,
I’ve done this with a pot of water on the stove but a slow cooker makes so much more sense. All I can say is pass the spoon, please. GREG
Wish you lived close enough that I could pass you the spoon!
The process of turning condensed milk to dulce de leche is simply amazing. I could eat them right of the can, though never tried it with a slow cooker, but sounds like a great idea, Jeff!
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Thanks, Hadia!
Somehow I missed this post last week, but fortunately your ‘latest post’ pop-up called this to my attention. And fortunately I clicked on it to find this recipe. I’ve read about this method for making dulce de leche, but to be honest I’ve never tried it. I need to try it, but first I need to find a German shepherd.
David @ Spiced recently posted…Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls
I’m convinced the German Shepherd is the way to go. A golden retriever could never do this.
A friend of mine from way back used do to this and I’ve always wanted to give it a try. I don’t have a slow cooker, but it’s my understanding you can boil it in a pot. Have you every done it that way? It looks absolutely awesome!
I haven’t done it that way, but many, many people do.