Dulce de Leche Recipe
You know you’re on the right track if your most trusted recipe sources agree on procedures for classics such as this one. This recipe for dulce de leche, a thick caramelized milk sauce essential in South American desserts, is adapted from Alton Brown, Saveur, and Wayne Gisslen.
While the instructions and cooking times differ slightly, all three sources agree on the use of baking soda, a key ingredient which may be a bit unexpected. The baking soda tips the slight acidity of milk towards alkalinity. This is important for two reasons (excuse me while I put on my lab coat):
- Alkalinity keeps milk proteins from curdling
For the same reason adding vinegar to milk makes cheese, mildly acidic milk, along with heat, may cause grittiness when milk proteins solidify. Adding the baking soda controls curdling to a certain degree, giving you a smoother dulce de leche. - Alkalinity helps with browning
Since dulce de leche is all about caramelization, a little help with getting that deep brown hue can’t hurt. One reason pretzels and bagels are boiled in a lye solution is the alkalinity of the liquid — it helps brown the crust while baking.
recipe adapted from Alton Brown, Saveur, and Wayne Gisslen’s Professional Baking
Dulce de Leche (Spanish)
Doce de Leite (Portuguese)
Confiture de Lait (French)
Caramelized Milk Sauce
makes about 1 cup / 250 ml
Ingredients:
4 cups / 1000 ml whole milk
1 1/2 cups / 375 ml granulated sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 vanilla bean, split OR 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Special Equipment:
Instructions:
- In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, sugar, and baking soda.
- Slowly bring to a boil over medium heat without stirring. A foamy layer will develop on top as it reaches a boil.
- Remove from the heat when it reaches a boil. Skim the foamy layer on top and return to the stovetop over medium heat.
- If using the split vanilla bean, add it at this point.
- Continue to simmer gently for 1 hour over medium heat, skimming the top as needed and stirring occasionally.
- If using the split vanilla bean, remove and discard it at this point.
- Continue to simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours over medium heat, stirring often. Once the dulce de leche reaches a deep caramel color and thick consistency, watch it closely. Stir continuously to prevent the bottom from scorching.
Watch out for scorching when it gets to this stage - Reduce the heat to low when dragging a spatula across the bottom of the pan leaves trails.
Happy trail - Fine-tune the consistency to your liking at this point, keeping in mind that dulce de leche will stiffen slightly as it cools. You can thin dulce de leche by adding small amounts of water if it gets too thick.
- Strain the dulce de leche.
- If using vanilla extract, add it at this point.
- Cool to room temperature before storing.
Dulce de Leche Storage:
Refrigerated in an airtight container, dulce de leche will keep for up to a month (as if it will last that long).
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December 18th, 2008 at 4:13 am
I love that speciality and always make myself! I’ve never seen this recipe before (with baking soda)…
Cheers,
Rosa
December 18th, 2008 at 5:19 am
this looks soo good!!!
December 18th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I bet this is fantastic, I just go the easy route & simmer sweetened condensed milk until its brown & thick
December 18th, 2008 at 9:28 am
This is dangerous… because now I want to have some! Thank you for sharing this!
December 18th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Sooooo good!
December 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
I would never have thought to use baking soda – too neat! As a chemical engineer, I appreciate the lab coat comments
December 18th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Haha nice face in the sauce. Thanks for the science reasons behind the baking soda, I love this stuff. It all makes sense.
Good thing it’s called Dulce de leche… for some reason the Americanized “Caramel Milk Sauce” doesn’t sound right
December 18th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I’m eagerly anticipating what magical goodies you’ll make with this elixir.
December 18th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
So delicious. I’d love to make my dulce de leche one of these days!
December 18th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Great tip on adding baking soda. I made a dulce de leche baklava of sorts this week:-)
December 18th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Great Tutorial! My mom used to make dulce de leche for me growing up (in colombia it’s called arrequipe) I tried to make it for the first time mysel from scratch…mine was not as beatiful a color as yours though! Definitely gonna try your recipe next time!
http://katiebarlow.blogspot.com/2008/10/cooking-with-apples-series-arequipe-dip.html
December 18th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Great idea. Love the little face in the bottom of the pan.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
How cute, the happy face. Can’t wait to see what you do with this.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Nice spatula, *wink* =p
At first I wasn’t sure what I saw in the dulce de leche, then I realized it was a smiley face!
December 18th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
I have made apple butter and pear butter in the crock pot on low. It eliminates the need to watch closely. I wonder if the ‘crock pot’ method would work on this recipe? I may try. Recipe sounds delicious. Thanks
December 18th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Wow,I have abaked version of this-not sure whether authentic or not-with condensed milk
. This looks very good-all the effort is worth the taste of homemade dulce du leche.Cheers and enjoy.I love this.Thanks for the step -by step pics.Great help it is.
December 19th, 2008 at 3:32 am
Omigosh! I almost missed your naughty, naughty reference! >:D Anyway, that looks so deliciously silky and rich– begging to be put inside something (or just eaten with a spoon). Thanks for the tips Jude!
December 19th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Being an expert in tasting different dulces de leche =) I can tell by the photo that yours is great! very nice color and consistency which is not a minor issue… Congrats!!!
Tip: you must try now a “dulce de leche cheesecake” it comes out perfect!
December 19th, 2008 at 6:40 am
who knew dulce de leche could be luscious and humorous at the same time…
December 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
I saw this last night on Tastespotting and almost started drooling on my keyboard. Looks so good!
December 19th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I adore dulce de leche, and sometimes wish I could swim in the stuff (that and a vat of chocolate)
All kidding aside, yours looks gorgeous–what great color and consistency!
December 19th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
So interesting about the alkalinity. Very cool..and delicious sounding!
December 19th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
I would have never thought to add baking soda. It looks amazing!
December 19th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
You look beautiful in your lab coat Jude!
Love this.
December 19th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Thanks for putting on your lab coat just for us! I love learning the “whys” of certain ingredients, and this alkalinity stuff is a new one for me.
December 19th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Thank you so much for posting this – I couldn’t figure out the grittiness that I’ve gotten with homemade dulce de leche. Now I know, and I WILL try this recipe.
December 19th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
wow, thanks for the science lesson. i like this method much more than the boil a can of condensed milk method!
December 19th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Interesting facts that are very useful – never heard of dulce de leche but looks a lot like caramel sauce that you make from condensed milk (place unopened can in a low oven for 2 hours which can lead to a caramel bomb in the oven)). Thanks for the comments on my blog.
December 20th, 2008 at 4:10 am
Love the recipe – thanks for sharing.
Question: why do we stir vanilla extract in towards the end?
December 20th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Oh YUM – that looks delicious!!!! Is it wrong that I want some right now, and it’s not even 9 a.m.??
Thanks also for all the scientific info! I love learning about all the whys and hows in the kitchen
December 20th, 2008 at 9:06 am
I am a wimp and just bought a jar. You make me want to try it though, if only for the happy face…
December 20th, 2008 at 10:43 am
You have a wonderful website here. Love the photos!
December 20th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Love that happy trail you did: it’s fun and it shows the consistency so well! Now on to the nom-nom part hehe.
December 20th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Wow, this is going on my Must-Make-Immediately list. I made dulce de leche ice cream last year and it was fantastic– I know it’d be even better with homemade dulce de leche!
December 20th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
This looks so very good. I have made it myself several times and it’s amazing!
well done!
December 20th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I have not been able to find dulce de leche. Now I am going to have to try making it.
December 20th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Yum Jude! I can’t wait to see what you come up with to use it!
December 20th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
As a scientist, it’s the science of cooking that is my favorite part! Thanks for bringing it here.
December 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am
i’ve been meaning to comment on this post since i saw it on t-spotting (or was it f-gawk?)…anyways, jude, whoa. whoa, whoa,whoa. this is one of those treasure “keeper” recipes. I am book marking this as my go-to dulce de leche recipe. thank you! this looks perfect and, you’re right, their ain’t no way it would keep for a week b/c i would use a spoon to eat it all way before that!
December 21st, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I’m happy-happy too! It’s good to know that there’s another route to Dulce de Leche other than with condensed milk.
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Hmmmm dulce de leche! In Mexico we call it cajeta, but that word means other (not too pleasant) things in other countries. Hehe. Happy Holidays!
December 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 am
ooh, this looks so good! I’ve never made it, but I did buy sweetened condensed milk for a recipe this weekend and I wonder if it’s the same taste!? It was so good, I had to take every single drop out of the can and cut my finger!
February 2nd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
First time I made confiture de lait, I followed a famous food blogger’s recipe. The taste was great, but the confiture looked very anemic. That was before I saw Alton Brown and was enlightened on the subject of Maillard reaction. Great post, Jude. Thanks a lot.
February 17th, 2010 at 2:45 am
This recipe looks really good. Do you know if I can use UHT milk? UHT means ultra-high temperature processing, and means that you don’t have to store this milk under refrigeration. It’s pretty popular in Germany…
February 22nd, 2010 at 6:26 pm
i tried making this, but it didnt really work. it looks delicious in the photos, but can’t seem to make it ! maybe its cause im not from there..