I wandered around my kitchen late one afternoon in Sydney many years ago as a neighbourhood friend was picking up her son who’d come to my place because he’d forgotten his house keys. (I can remember details like this but not where I parked my car.)
Anyway, I was telling her that I was about to take Tilly, my middle kid, to the doctor because she had a raging ear infection and a persistent temperature and I waved at the Dulce de Leche that was simmering on the stove and my neighbour said, ‘Today? Why would you do that today, with a sick toddler?’
Yes, a very good question. Still a good question well over a decade later.
Because when things get blue, I cook.
Because that sick toddler had conked out around lunchtime and I looked at the tin of condensed milk in my cupboard and thought, hello.
Because when things are out of my control, I cook. Or better still, make caramel.
Because I’m an extremely curious cook. Don’t you just want to know what happens inside that can for three-and-a-half hours?
And because it’s really straightforward: one tin of condensed milk, label taken off, in your biggest stockpot, covered with water, and let it boil.
Yes, you can make this dulce du leche by pouring condensed milk into a baking dish, covering it and baking for 1 ½ hours. But isn’t it way more fun to LIVE ON THE EDGE?
Unless there’s a real risk of boiling exploding tins, you’re really only half alive.
Do not make this half-heartedly and puncture the tin. You won’t need to, and water will get in and crystallise the caramel. Not delicious.
I also very strongly recommend letting the tin cool down before cracking it open, in order to avoid scalding molten caramel potentially geysering into your eye.
I also strongly recommend a 100 per cent covering of the tin with water at all times, (like, don’t doze off or go cuddle a sick kid because if there’s boiling hot caramel inside the tin and no water outside because you’ve let it boil dry, I’m pretty sure the tin could explode. I’ve never tried this, and please don’t).
You know, I enjoy risk. But not of the it’ll-take-me-three-hours-to-scrape-that-off-the-ceiling kind. So please, a BIG stockpot, lots and lots of water. Three and a half hours and there we have it, folks. Dulce de Leche.
Now what do you do with it? Eat it by the spoonful and fall into a sugar coma?
Alternatively:
● Drizzle it over a tray of brownies before baking
● Spoon it over icecream
● Warm it up again and pipe it in skinny ribbons over the top of a baked cheesecake
● Use it as the caramel in a slice or sandwich it between shortbread biscuits
● Put it in shortcrust tart cases
● Roll it into balls, refrigerate, drop the cold balls into melted chocolate, refrigerate, enjoy something very close to a cobber or Fantale.
SO good. Not so good for you. But you’re not here for diet tips, right?
Makes 250ml
Ingredients
1 x 395 g (14 oz) tin condensed milk
Method
Remove the label. Put the tin on its side into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. (Putting the tin on its side stops it bouncing around quite so much.)
Cover the tin completely with water, with at least 10 cm (4 in) of water to spare above the tin, and put the saucepan over a medium heat.
Let the water come to a boil, and let it remain on a low boil for 3 ½ hours.
Check the saucepan at least every half an hour, and top up the pot with boiling water from the kettle as often as required to keep the tin covered by 10 cm (4 in) water. Do not let the tin boil uncovered by water.
At 3 ½ hours, turn the heat off and leave the tin in the cooling water until the water is completely cold – for about 8–12 hours, or overnight.
Remove the cold tin, open, spoon out the dulce du leche into a jar or container and it keeps refrigerated for 6 weeks.
Note
Don’t ever open a hot tin of dulce de leche, as this could result in burns. Always leave the caramel to cool completely in the tin before opening.
Recipe adapted from Fiona Weir’s book “From Scratch” published by Hardie Grant 2022, photography by Alan Benson