065 - DULCE DE LECHE

Oh my God, I’m back! I’m finally back people!

I know, I know, it’s been too long, I miss you guys, I miss cooking, I miss doing photo shoot, man, I miss everything!

If you’ve been wondering where the hell I went, well, I didn’t go anywhere. But my trusty Laptop (which is an old, beaten-up Alienware M11x R2) did. Long story short, she (my laptop, who else?) went to the ER to get her internals fixed. I did wanted to send her to the ER since a very long time ago, but since my trip is coming up (more on that later this week), I just can’t stand her dying on me every time I render High Definition videos. Seriously, it’s getting old!

With a simple Google search, I stumble upon this store called Pemmz. I looked to their website, and I shit my pants. They’re selling premium gaming laptop, like, almost every brand in the market for a very hefty price tag. So I thought, “hmm, a place like this should have an after sales service right?” and Yes, they do have one!

So I deliver her to the store at the far west (no, seriously, It’s so far from my house) at Tanjung Duren, and asked them to clean her up, change her battery, and add more RAM for more computing ability. After a week and U$ 300 later, she is now working as if she just came out of the box! Couldn’t be happier! So if any of you guys have any problem with your Computer, I highly recommend this place!

Anyway, this week recipe is hardly a recipe; it’s a life hack I must say. We’re making DULCE DE LECHE out of a sweetened condensed milk!

Dulce De Leche is basically a confection made by slowly heating milk and sugar until Maillard reaction occurs, resulting in a smotth, velvety, caramelized flavor. It is widely popular in the South America, and I’m pretty sure you will love it too.

This version is NOT authentic. This is a simple cooking method to imitate; I’d say 60-70% taste of the real thing. But hey, I’m not complaining

Without further ado, let’s begin shall we?

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For 1 Can equivalent of Dulce De Leche, you will need;

1 Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk. Choose any particular brand you like, they should work the same. Remember, as long as it has sugar in it, it’ll work just fine.

Water for boiling

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Tear off the label from the can, cause, we don’t want paper in our Dulce De Leche no? Make 2 holes, 1 in each opposite direction of your choice with a can opener. PLEASE DO NOT SKIP THIS unless you want to have a BLOODY GOOD TIME cleaning all those milk because they exploded!

Find the spot where the ends meet

TEAR IT APART! THEY DON'T BELONG TOGETHER!

This, my trusty can opener

Poke a hole on one side

Poke a hole on the opposite side

See? there's the first hole

And the second one!

Step 2 – Get a large pan, put your can in, and fill it up with water until it reaches ¾ of the can. Turn the heat up to high, and let it boil before turning it down to a medium heat to simmer for 2 Hours (Light Dulce De Leche) or 3 Hours (Dark Dulce De Leche). When you’re ‘cooking’ the can, you’ll notice that they’ll start to rattle. 

To avoid this, add a small piece of cloth underneath it prior to boiling, so, you know, the rattling will subside.

Don’t forget to refill the water to the same level it started as you go! Water evaporates, and we need to keep ¾ of the can submerged to reach this desired consistency!

Add the water

Simmer!

Step 3 – Once you’ve reached your destination, err, sorry, your desired doneness, carefully. By ‘carefully’, I mean, REALLY CAREFULLY, take out the can and leave it to cool in either an ice bath or a wire rack for at least 30-40 minutes before you can handle them. Once that period passes, you’re basically done!

Step 4 – Serve!

Man, I love this stuff. I can’t believe a can of regular sweetened condensed milk can turn into this creamy caramel that you can ‘abuse’ in every form of dessert possible! I tried it on top of an ice cream, on top of a whipped cream, and man, I’m gaining pounds already.

Kept in a jar, this should last for at least 2-3 weeks. Just make sure you use a clean utensil every time you took a spoonful of it, or else, bacteria can grow and ruin everything.

Give this a go, hashtag me on Instagram #mybigfatcookingblog, I’ll repost your attempt!

Cheers

xx