Preparation and Uses
The most basic recipe calls for slowly simmering milk and sugar, stirring almost constantly, although other ingredients – such as sodium bicarbonate and one vanilla pod (or essence) – 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.
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 flavour candies or other sweet foods, such as cakes, cookies (see alfajor), crème caramel (known as flan in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking regions), and ice creams; it provides the "toffee" part of English Banoffee pie and is also popular spread on pancakes and toast, while the French confiture de lait is commonly served with fromage blanc.
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. 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. Something very similar is available in candy form, by the Storck corporation, called Werthers Echte. A classic, nostalgic european – especially German and Scandinavian – candy bonbon.
A similar recipe is used to prepare basundi in India, which resembles a less condensed dulce de leche, flavoured with cardamom and eaten as a dessert. The Philippines also has dulce de leche, where it is usually paired with cakes or breakfast rolls. As 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 concentrated milk).
In 1997, the ice cream company Häagen-Dazs introduced a dulce de leche-flavoured ice cream. In the same year, Starbucks began offering dulce de leche-flavoured coffee products. In early 2009, Girl Scouts of the USA introduced cookies with dulce de leche-flavored chips as part of their annual cookie sales program. In October of 2012 Herbalife International of America, Inc. releases a limited edition seasonal flavor of their Formula 1 Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix, Dulce de Leche.
Read more about this topic: Dulce De Leche
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