Dulce de leche

A jar of dulce de leche

Dulce de leche (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈdulse ðe ˈletʃe]; Portuguese: doce de leite, IPA: [ˈdosi dʒi ˈlejtʃi]) is a thick, creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.

Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet of milk" or better "sweet [made] of milk" or "milk's sweet", meaning "milk jam" (in the same way that "dulce de frutilla" is strawberry jam, for example). It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where it is known under a variety of names. In Chile, Ecuador and Panama, it is known as manjar. In Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, it is referred to as manjar blanco or arequipe, depending on regional variations. In Mexico, it is commonly called cajeta but made from goat's milk. It is also found in Brazil, known by its Portuguese name doce de leite.

A French version, known as confiture de lait, is very similar to the spreadable forms of dulce de leche. A Norwegian version, Hamar-pålegg ("Hamar spread"), better known as HaPå, is a relatively thick and not so sweet commercial variant.

Preparation and uses

The most basic recipe calls for slowly simmering milk and sugar, stirring almost constantly, although other ingredients may be included to achieve special properties. Much of the water in the milk evaporates and the mix thickens; the resulting dulce de leche is usually about a sixth of the volume of the milk used. The transformation that occurs in preparation is caused by a combination of two common browning reactions called caramelization and the Maillard reaction.

Muffins with dulce de leche sauce

A home-made form of dulce de leche is sometimes made by boiling an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for two to three hours (or 30 to 45 minutes in a pressure cooker), particularly by those living in countries where it cannot be bought ready-made. It is dangerous to do this on a stove: if the pot is allowed to boil dry, the can will overheat and explode.

Dulce de leche is used to flavor candies or other sweet foods, such as cakes, cookies (see alfajor), or ice creams (Argentina and recently introduced in Spain and the USA), as well as crème caramel (flan in Spanish and Portuguese). It provides the "toffee" part of English Banoffee pie. It is also popular spread on pancakes and toast. French confiture de lait is commonly served with fromage blanc; a Dutch variety (really, a caramel paste), marketed as Bebogeen, is a children's favorite on bread.

A solid candy made from dulce de leche, similar to the Polish krówki and named Vaquita (little cow), was manufactured by the Mu-Mu factory in Argentina until the company went out of business in 1984 (as a consequence of financial speculation by its owners).^{[citation needed]} Subsequently, other brands began to manufacture similar candies, giving them names such as "Vauquita" and "Vaquerita" in an effort to link their products to the original.

In 1997, the ice cream company Häagen-Dazs introduced a dulce de leche-flavored ice cream; in the same year, Starbucks began offering dulce de leche-flavored coffee products. In the early part of 2009, Girl Scouts of the USA introduced dulce de leche flavored cookies as part of their annual cookie sales program.^{[citation needed]}

A similar recipe is used to prepare basundi in India. It is like a less condensed dulce de leche, flavoured with cardamom and is eaten as dessert. The Philippines also has dulce de leche, where it is usually paired with cakes or breakfast rolls. Like in other places, it has also found its way into other desserts such as cakes and ice cream.

This is also known in Russia as boiled concentrated milk (the Russian equivalent of sweetened condensed milk).

See also

Baked milk Banoffee pie Basundi Brunost Cajeta Caramel Caramel candy

Confiture de lait Flan Custard Kaymak Krówki Maillard reaction Manjar blanco

Penuche Russian candy Teja