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Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche

Dulce de leche is a delicious caramel-like candy made from milk and sugar that's popular in many South American countries. It's called confiture de lait in French, and doce de leite in Portuguese, No matter what your language, this is a tasty treat to spread on toast, layer into pies and ice cream, or eat straight, one spoonful at at time.

Flavor heaven is as easy as cooking a can! The following instructions will teach you how to make your own.

Please note that there's a small possibility of explosion when you cook a can. This risk can be greatly reduced by making sure that the can is covered with water at all times.

 
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Step 1Ingredients

Ingredients

You'll need:

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

That's it. Don't use evaporated milk, it's totally different. Has to be sweetened & condensed.

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110 comments
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Apr 28, 2009. 3:46 PMrataman77 says:
invented on argentina ARGENTINA RULES! :P
Jan 22, 2012. 5:25 PMJediKhalel says:
so say we all. :-P
Jul 2, 2009. 7:28 PMnotingkool says:
Yes, a invent from argentina. Other way to prepare it is with a can of condensed milk, boiling arround 2hs. in a pot with water (baño maria). Im from argentina too, this is a quick method but the method of rimar2000 is better. All the people of Argentina plese raise their hands!!
Jan 22, 2012. 5:25 PMJediKhalel says:
(raising hands here) ;-)
Jul 18, 2009. 3:48 PMguiks says:
Actually, it´s origin is unclear. There is a legend that it´s from argentina, but it´s no more than a legend.
Jul 20, 2009. 11:23 PMnotingkool says:
no, no is a legend. im from argentina. was invented in argentina, we are the first in produce it. its a part of our history.
Dec 1, 2011. 6:46 AMemkayach says:
Has anyone tried to start the boil on a stove top then transfer the can of milk to an already hot slow cooking crock?
Jun 11, 2011. 7:07 AMBobMarleyFan says:
my grandmother used to make this for me and my sister and we would put it on toast, I loved it!
Jun 11, 2011. 3:12 AMdeqwer says:
cool,it's simple to make and very tasty
Jun 11, 2011. 12:07 AMiminthebathroom says:
bizaRRe, gonna try it
Jun 10, 2011. 8:44 PMtool box says:
I live in Argentina if you go, there are a lot of dulce de leche in the shops
May 31, 2011. 3:02 PMsuayres says:
Nestle DOES make a canned dulce de Leche--is this as good as home-made, or is your recipe superior?
Feb 12, 2011. 12:51 PMfelixcanis11 says:
You left out something that's incredibly important. If the can has any dents at all, it can explode in the water (because the pressure isn't evenly distributed). So it's really important to check your can for dents--both when you buy it and before you boil it.
Sep 9, 2009. 3:16 PMcooking_gurl96 says:
that dosent seem like a good way 2 mak carmel. y not just mix butter and brown sugar like some people? and what if i dont like "condensed milk?" its a great recipe but ill stik 2 butter and brown sugar.
Jan 20, 2011. 5:51 PMcalgrl113 says:
Well this isn't caramel. It's dulce de leche, which, if you don't know what it is, is similar to caramel, but very, very different. So, no, if you want to make caramel, then obviously this is the wrong recipe.

Jan 28, 2010. 2:44 PMMr. Brownie says:
Its not Carmel. Its Carmel like.
Feb 9, 2007. 4:11 PMTomas says:
also is called MANJAR... in europe they doesn't know of its exsitence... very nice sweet by the way
Jan 6, 2011. 12:42 PMpyogazel says:
Well, considering France is in Eyrope, and considering we've known about "confiture de lait" for quite a while now, I have to disagree with you...
Aug 4, 2010. 6:59 AMnutsandbolts_64 says:
now why did he show me this? oh right, I WANT SOME!!!! but I don't have condensed milk :( when I get some I'll make this straight away and play a game while I'm waiting for my recipe of utter indulgence for it lol.
Mar 29, 2010. 6:49 PMGeekyGirl1103 says:
Ooh, very delicious! It was definitely worth the wait. It was also very good with fruit, such as strawberries and bananas. YUM! <3
Nov 24, 2008. 11:23 AMcas6767 says:
Wow tasty and explosive, nice. I was expecting a cake but then I realized that's tres leches which is also delicious. You should put dulce de leche on tres leches and invent the quad leches.
Mar 4, 2010. 8:49 PMMirth Krafter says:
I just got a sugar rush at the idea of your quad leches.
Feb 7, 2010. 4:55 PMchomerics says:
Oh my girlfriend is going to hate you!!!!  She LOVES Dulce de leche!!  It will go great for valentines day!  I'll cover some strawberries in it for her!
Feb 2, 2010. 9:23 AMquakecountry says:
I was taught how to make Dulce de Leche in Spain this very same way over 36 years ago. Thank you for taking the time to post the instructions for everyone.
Jan 28, 2010. 4:48 PMBiglion says:
Making "dulce de leche" the way you show in this instructable will give us a can with a nice dulce de leche but NOT the one that is usually bought in Argentina, Uruguay and other countries. The recipe is more complex and requires a lot of time so when you want some candy and you have a can of sweetened condensed milk... well...  go for this! 

The darkest variations of dulce de leche are so good! Homemade dulce de leche is the way to try it.
Dec 23, 2009. 7:08 PM_mattb says:
this came out really great, thanks so much!
Nov 8, 2009. 5:06 PMTheMonkeysamurai says:
The fact that you can cook it in the can is amazing! this looks so cool!

Sep 23, 2007. 4:30 PMbonniejean says:
MY MOTHER USED TO MAKE A PIE THE SAME WAY, WITH THE SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK, AND AFTER 3 HOURS, SHE WOULD PUT IT IN A PIE SHELL AND ADD CHOPPED PECANS ON TOP AND SERVE IT WITH WHIPPED CREAM, SHE CALLED IT CARAMEL PIE. WE ARE FRENCH CANADIAN, I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE GOT THE RECIPE, BUT I NEVER KNEW UNTIL NOW, READING THIS SITE, THAT IT IS POPULAR IN SOUTH AMERICA, I'VE HEARD OF DULCE DE LECHE, BUT NEVER KNEW IT WAS THE SAME THAT MY MOTHER MADE.
Aug 4, 2009. 11:41 AMMarche says:
Try pressing the caps lock key ;)
Sep 9, 2009. 3:17 PMcooking_gurl96 says:
maybe she wanted 2 do that ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
Dec 15, 2008. 6:30 PMchad oliver says:
Pie . . . that sound nice. (but please, don't yell)
Apr 17, 2009. 12:54 PMKathlove007 says:
OMG yum. I'm making some tonight. Haven't made it since college! Delicious on fruit or bread too.
Apr 11, 2009. 2:42 AMAstralQueen says:
I just made some, am having it with toast. Gosh, this is SWEET! Evil treat, good stuff. It's also meant to be shared with friends; a whole can is simply too much for just a couple of people!
Apr 10, 2009. 1:39 AMAstralQueen says:
I forsee alot of excersise in my future after this.... to burn off the ebil treat!
Mar 18, 2009. 6:51 PMpauladc says:
I'd add vanilla extract to the one made out of condensed milk just to kill the milk flavour a little and just be patient and don't even think about opening the can until is really cool. Imagine thick hot lava all over your face..... Rimar2000's recipe is great (I'd also go with vanilla beans here) but the perfect consistency point takes some practice.
Mar 8, 2009. 7:09 AMmoisture says:
I just opened mine up, and wow is it good! Thanks!
Mar 7, 2009. 11:02 AMleal088 says:
Heyyyy, Here in Brazil "Dulce de leche" is called as "Doce de leite" witch means the same, it's really easy to find in the supermarkets, and it's inexpensive. The best Dulce de leche we have here is made in Visosa, a country city in the state of Minas Gerais. Some households prefer to make their own Dulces de leches, but, they use to cook the can inside a pressure cooker, for about 30 minutes. The hardest thing is find one of those cookers in the US, and I believe it's also hard to find Condensed milk. You can Eat Doce de leite with a pettit gateau, or a piece of bread. It Tastes awesome!
Jan 16, 2009. 9:43 PMtubbychick3n says:
Dulce de leche literally means sweet milk
Feb 7, 2009. 3:34 PMmazingo says:
No it doesn't, that would be "Leche dulce". "Dulce de leche" could be translated as "Milk jam" or "Milk spread".
Feb 6, 2009. 8:07 PMnataval says:
in colombia it's made with the same recipe... only we call it "arequipe".... and we do eat it with anything
1-40 of 110next »

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Author:faludi
Author of Building Wireless Sensor Networks, (http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596807740)