Dulce de Leche is a beautiful golden caramel sauce, composed of milk and sugar. Dulce de Leche – MILK JAM.  There is something luscious in this gorgeous gold. The flavor is deep and complex. All I can say is hmmmm hmmmm wooow yummmm, one more lick. This addictive sauce is spreadable, melts like silk in your mouth.

There are many ways to make Dulce de Leche at home.  You can make it from scratch! (call it classic) using whole milk and boiling the milk with sugar for an hour and half with constant stirring. Or you can use a can of sweetened condensed milk to make your own Dulce de Leche. I opted to use condensed milk which I  feel is very convenient.

Again, there are a few ways to making Dulce de Leche with condensed milk

1. Boiling the can of condensed milk within a sauce pan of water for four to five hours. (This method is slightly dangerous, because there is a chance that due to the pressure the can might explode, if the water level gets too low.) imagine cleaning the kitchen off that sticky and sugary mess ; Forget it.

2. The other method to make your Dulce de Leche using condensed milk is in the oven. Pour the can of condensed milk into a glass pie plate or a shallow baking tray. Stir some flakes of sea salt and then set the pie plate  within a large pan and add hot water  until  the water reaches half way up to the side of the pie plate. Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for an hour. You have to stir a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary.

3. And then there is the Easy Way – I used a pressure cooker! wooopeee it is ridiculously easy. requires no work. Just place a can of condensed milk in a pressure cooker and add enough water to cover the can by an inch or more ( details below )  Let the magic happen.

It is a good idea to make your Dulce de Leche a day before you want to use it and let it cool overnight.  Once you have your sauce ready it can be kept in the fridge for 4 weeks. The magical sweet gold in the fridge can enhance many many delights. Use it the way you want –

1. Spread your Dulce de Leche on the toast or bread.

2. Drizzle on your ice cream.

3. Mix it in your coffee.

4. Dip a banana slice in.

5. Make a banoffie pie.

6. Layer your cheese cake.

7. Fill pastries or tarts.

8. Flavor the custard.

9. Dribble it in muffins.

10. Just eat from the jar 🙂

Few safety consideration when pressure cooking a can — MUST READ CAREFULLY

1. Ensure that the can is not damaged or nicked in any way.

2. Remove the label, unless it is printed on.

3. It is important that you start with cold water and allow the water and the can to slowly come to temperature, in the pressure cooker. If you try plugging the can in boiling water to speed the things up –  The center part will not have the same color.

4. How long Dulce de Leche needs to be cooked depends on how dark you want Dulce de Leche to be ! I like it dark, very glorious. So I cooked mine for 40 minutes.  You can cook for 30 minutes if want – that will give you little lighter color.

5. Let the pressure cooker cool completely. Do not remove the can from the pressure cooker while the water in which it is submerged is still warm. ( The content of the can will still be under pressure. If you try to open the Dulce de Leche, it might squirt out like a hot fountain – which will take ages to clean.)

6. If your Dulce de Leche is thick; simply warm the desired amount in a small pan over  a double boiler with a spoon of milk to soften.

These are the wonderful chocolate cups; with Dulce de Leche and chopped pistachio filling. DELICIOUS