Dulce de Leche - it's everywhere!

Sometimes a new food creeps into our conciousness and takes hold, seemingly appearing everywhere almost instantaneously. For me that is what happened with Dulce de Leche. In Latin America Dulce de Leche has been making appearances for a long time, but only recently has it gone mainstream in North America. By mainstream I mean Haagen-Dazs ice cream and Oreos have Dulce de Leche flavours. It doesn't get more mainstream than Oreos! 

Dulce de Leche is suddenly everywhere! Let's take a look at it.

Dulce de Leche means sweet milk in Spanish and usually refers to carmelized sweetened condensed milk. It is also known by the Spanish name Cajeta. Typically, a can of sweetened condensed milk is submerged in a pot of water and boiled for 3 hours. Does it explode? Occasionally! Not acceptable! Here is an alternate technique, from dessert maestro David Lebovitz, for making your own Dulce de Leche. 

Dulce de Leche

Preheat oven to 425 F. Pour one can (400 grams/14 ounces) of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of kosher salt. Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the pie plate. Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 - 1+1/4 hours. Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as needed. Once the Dulce de Leche is browned and carmelized, remove from the oven and let it cool. Once cool, whisk it until smooth. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

So, you have jumped on the bandwagon and made a batch of Dulce de Leche. Nothing has exploded. Now what? Dulce de Leche Brownies, of course!!

Photo courtesy of www.davidlebovitz.com

Dulce de Leche Brownies courtesy of David Lebovitz

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces; 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped; 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder; 3 large eggs; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, finely choppped; 1 cup Dulce de Leche.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8-inch baking pan with a long sheet of aluminum foil that extends over all four sides of the pan. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil with butter.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add chocolate pieces and stir constantly over very low heat until chocolate is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder until smooth. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing, then stir in vanilla and then the flour. Mix in the nuts. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter. Drag a knife through it once or twice to swirl it lightly. Spread the remaining brownie batter over this and then drop spoonfulls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife again, in one or two long strokes, to swirl the Dulce de Leche slightly. Do not over-swirl or you will lose the effect of the cute little blobs dotting your delectable dessert.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The brownies are done when the centre feels just slightly set. A toothpick inserted in the centre of the brownies should still have a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting into squares. These brownies are actually better the second day and will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge if they last that long.

Have you noticed my adoration of David Lebovitz? In another life I would like to live with him (or even near him) in Paris and have him ply me with his homemade ice creams and chocolate treats. It would be a sweet life, though there is nothing in it for him.

Become a David Lebovitz groupie along with me:

 The sweet life in Paris : delicious adventures in the world's most glorious--and perplexing--city by Lebovitz, David.

 Ripe for dessert : 100 outstanding desserts with fruit-- inside, outside, alongside by Lebovitz, David.