Dulce de leche - 2 ways - Wild Wild Whisk

A spoon of homemade dulce de leche on a plate.

5 from 3 votes

Dulce de leche - 2 ways

Dulce de leche is pure magic - sweet, creamy, and full of rich, caramelized flavor. Even though it takes hours on the stove from scratch, I think the final product is completely worth the wait and the effort.

Prep Time5

Cook Time4

Total Time4 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: tablespoon

Author: Trang Doan

Equipment

Heavy pot
Whisk

Ingredients

Method 1: from scratch

4 cups of whole milk
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 whole vanilla bean split with the seeds scraped
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 pinches kosher salt

Method 2: with condensed milk

14 oz sweetened condensed milk 1 can
2 pinches kosher salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For Method 1:

Add milk, sugar and scraped vanilla bean seeds along with the pod (or vanilla bean paste) in a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer while stirring occasionally.
When the sugar completely dissolves, add baking soda and salt. Reduce to low heat (see note) and cook for 3 ½ to 4 hours uncovered, stirring occasionally. If using vanilla bean pod and seeds, you’ll need to remove the pod after cooking for an hour.
Skim off foam as necessary (if there is too much).
In the last hour of cooking, stir the mixture frequently and reduce heat to the lowest setting if necessary, the mixture will bubble more rapidly.
Reduce the mixture to about 1 ½ cups. When it thickens and the color is caramel brown, it is ready.
Transfer to a jar and let cool to room temperature.

For Method 2:

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Pour condensed milk into a pie dish, sprinkle salt over the top. Cover with foil.
Place covered pie dish into a roasting pan. Fill the pan with hot water half way up the side of the pie dish. Bake for 1 hour.
Remove roasting pan from the oven, and remove pie dish from the water bath. Uncover the dish carefully and whisk the mixture until smooth, 1 – 2 minutes.
Cover the dish and return to the water bath. Add more water if necessary. Place the roasting pan back into the oven and bake for 1 ½ hour more.
Remove from the oven, and remove pie dish from the water bath. Uncover and whisk the dulce de leche until smooth, 4 – 5 minutes.
Transfer to a jar and let cool to room temperature.

Notes

You can cook the dulce de leche on higher heat setting to shorten the cook time, but you will need to watch it more closely and stir the mixture more frequently. The most recent batch took me about 2 hours and 10 minutes on medium heat on my gas stove.
Method 2 will take about 2 hours 45 minutes.
Calories are estimated based on 1 tablespoon serving of homemade dulce de leche.

Nutrition