Dulce de Leche Recipe Thick Caramel
Dulce de leche is a thick, caramel milk-based sauce. I have seen many recipes for it that involve simmering an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a big pot of water for several hours. I have tried this in the past, despite warnings that it might explode. It worked fine but still had that distinctive sweetened condensed milk taste. So try this recipe instead, its faster and is delectable.
Dulce de leche ingredients (makes 1 cup of thick dulce de leche)
4 cups or 1litre (0.26 gallons) milk (4% fat)
2 cups or 436g (15.38 ounces) sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
Bring the milk to the boil, add the sugar, vanilla and baking soda. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Reduce the heat and wash down the sides of the pan using a wet pastry brush. Simmer over medium heat for about 1 hour scooping off any froth every fifteen minutes.
As you get closer to an hour monitor the syrup regularly to check it is not burning on the bottom of the pan.
Pour through a fine metal sieve into a bowl and allow to cool. It will thicken more on cooling.
Use as a sauce or as a component for desserts like ‘gold bar’ or banoffee tart.
Excess can placed in a ziplock bag and stored in the freezer.
Troubleshooting: If on cooling it is not as thick as you need it has not been heated hot enough. Pour into a clean saucepan and stir as it boils until a small teaspoonful placed on the bench cools to be thick. WARNING: Caramel is extremely hot, any little splatters will burn, so wear protective gloves while stirring.
by Ann Reardon How To Cook That
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Hi
Love all the recipes. Really well explained and think I could actually make them.
One question Baking Soda is that Baking Powder or Bicarbonate of Soda?
Couldn’t find Baking Soda in the Supermarket.
Hi Michelle, bicarb soda
I really love to bake, I been try to surch for the perfect show forever, and I think I just found it. Your great.
Hi Ann,
Made some more dulce de leche today, following your recipe. i have since used it in making banoffee pie. COuld you please do a dulce de leche ice-cream, whenever time permits?
Thanks!
Hi Ann
Would it be okay to keep this in a bowl in the fridge or is it best in a ziplock bag and in the freezer like you’ve said in the recipe?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Ann! The caramel looks so good that i really want to try it out. But can i use heavy cream? Should i use the same amount or less. And will the texture be diferrent?
Thanks in advance
hi milo cream is a lot higher in fat than milk is so I am not sure if it will work. Milk is 4% fat cream s 30% fat so you would not get as much water evaporating off. you would need to experiment and see what happens.
Mine wouldn’t thicken up it stayed like a carmel sauce rather than dulce de leche. After it was cooled completly it thickened but wasn’t like yours in the video on youyube. PS. I love your channel and I really want you to post more videos a week please I love to whatch them and I have already made 2 of your recipes and I would love to make even more. I am under the age of 13 and I love the easy videos that I can make and would love it if you could post more videos that I could make but are eadyand taste good. Love your channel ~morgan
I had that happen and what you can do is pour it back in a clean pot/pan, turn the heat on medium high, and stir occasionally until it thickens. It took about 10-15 minutes and it set perfectly after cooling.
Hi Ann. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. I am planning to make a chocoflan soon. So for the base can I use Hershey’s Caramel Sauce instead of Dulce de Leche? I find making D’d’L at home bit tedious with my newborn… Thanks in advance.
Hi Ann,
Your site is awesome – I’m thinking of making chocolate gifts for Christmas – I have one question – how do you store your dulce de leche and how long does it keep?
Hi Ann, if i freeze the caramel, do i just reheat it? or leave it in room temperature for it to melt?
Hi crystal yes leave at room temp to thaw, or eat frozen by the thick gooey spoonful
I was wondering what sugars will and won’t work. I don’t use white sugar (although am considering if needed) and was wondering if Raw surgar, brown sugar or coconut sugar would work? TIA
Hi renee I have only ever made it with white sugar so you will need to experiment with this one
For the metal scooping thing , is it really importante or can we do it an other way with an other accessorie , if yes wich one ? Thank you for this wonderful recepite .
Hi Michelle, It was a metal sieve, but you could use a large spoon and tilt it to let the liquid run off.
can i use whole milk?
Hi gia yes you can 😀
This looks fabulous…and so much easier & faster than other recipes I’ve seen. Thank you!
Question: I have a family member who is dairy-free. Do you think I could make this with almond/soy/coconut milk? Would it still thicken or should I add something (arrowroot, tapioca…)?
Thanks again 🙂
Hi emily it is the sugar caramelising that makes it thicken, I am not sure how the other milks would taste or how they would boil down in the recipe, perhaps make a smaller amount to experiment.
Hi… Thanks for the reciepe but i faced a problem..!! My caramel turned out to be granular..! What could b the reason?
It wasnt smooth it was all grainy..!
Also i made a small portion of caramel taking 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon sodium bicarbonate.. And vanilla essence.!! Tht shuldnt be a prob right? Please temme wt could b the reason for grainy mix?
Thank you.!!
Hi Ann.. Also it started to
Be grainy in the beginning only.. Like after 5-10 mins..!! So i dont think that is cuz of overcooking..right?
Please reply.!!
Thank you.!!
hi pooja, if it is grainy at the begining that is not from overcooking, not sure what is going on there.
Hi Pooja, the smaller amount would get to a hotter temp much quicker, you could try adding some glucose syrup to it at the start it sounds like your sugar is crystalising out.
hi Ann, can I change the baking soda with baking powder? is it same?
Hi Annisa the baking powder has baking soda plus cream of tar tar to make it slightly acidic, another commenter said they tried it and it worked fine.
Hello Ann!
I made a very delicious Dulce de Leche, all thanks to you. The color, taste and consistency were absolutely divine. I cant stop eating it. How long can i can it in the fridge?
lol if there is any left that you dont want to eat immediately put in a plastic bag in the freezer
omg this is sooo much easier than the condensed milk in a can method. I wish I found this recipe first. I’ve been waiting for my condensed milk to cook for like 3.5 hours and its still not dark enough in colour. I definitely will be using this instead next time! Thank you 😀
glad you found it sasquatch
Yeah huh. Mine worked. Took about an hour and a half to thicken. And my son loves it.
Thank u.
Now for it to cool and then fill my macarons ( which turned out a bit crisp this time sadly)
hi marg,
Make sure you bang the tray on the worktop
There seem to be the same questions asked over and over on this blog. You are so patient Ann.
I actually put a can of condensed milk in the oven (emptied into a dish) with a water bath and left it to caramelise. I added vanilla at the end. it turned out fabulous. Just like the dulce de leche in Argentina (just been there and ate heaps of it with flan (creme caramel). yummm.
Hi,
I read that you said full cream milk is ideal for this recipe, however will it work with skim or low fat milk?
Thanks