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Hi there! This one is dedicated to a lovely young lady, the daughter of one of my neighbors,
who asked me to make her a birthday cake. It was very flattering of her to ask, and
she said she wanted it to be a cake with her all time favorite flavor, doce de leite. Now,
I live in a Brazilian neighborhood, and this has introduced me to a lot of interesting
food and tastes, and this was a chance for me to try this famous sweet from Argentina
for the first time....and when I tried it, I knew my life would never be the same. "Dulce
de leche" is Spanish for "sweetness of milk," and that's really all it is. It's just milk
and sugar, mixed together and stirred for a very long time, until it reduces and congeals
into a very sweet caramel. There's a popular method for making dulce de leche, which is
simply taking a can of sweetened condensed milk, placing the unopened can in a pot of
water, and boiling it for several hours without opening the can; but doing it the harder way,
with regular whole milk and in an open pot, is actually the faster method of producing
this tasty sweet. And, you also end up with a greater quantity, enough to use in several
dishes.
Now, milk is notorious for burning, of course; and I considered the best way to ensure the
milk would be evenly cooked and stirred without developing a crust of burned milk on the bottom
of the pan. Then, I realized the same procedure for making a European stew called scotch broth
could be applied here. Scotch broth also burns easily, and they prevent by using a round-bottomed
pan rather than a flat bottom, so you can stir it easily and constantly. That's why
these Scotch bowls are round in shape, to prevent the barley used in scotch broth from
burrning. Now, this bowl is too small for stirring half a gallon of milk; so, instead,
I'm using a heavy cast iron wok. This wok is made by Lodge, and it's big enough for
this task. If you have a gas stove, you could get a thin wok at an Oriental store for about
ten dollars, and that should do the job just as well. And, this will also allow us to use
a wok turner, which is shaped especially to fit a wok.
The ingredients for making dulce de leche are very simple. Add two quarts of milk to
a large pot. Then, add half a teaspoon of baking soda, a teaspoon of vanilla extract,
and four cups of sugar. Then, we mix it together, and start stirring...and stirring...and stirring.
This is going to be a very slow process, and we need to be able to stir this pot constantly
for over two hours. I'm told, in Latin American families, they used to punish the kids by
making them stir the pot for dulce de leche; and, I'd agree that any kid would coinsider
it a real punishment to stand in place stirring a ladle for two hours.
"And, I do believe we are done."
Now, you know the secret of one of the most delicious foods in the world -- something
you'll never get at a mall food court. There are about a thousand different ways to use
dulce de leche as an ingredient in cakes, and pies, as frosting; as a caramel substitute;
or even mix it with chocolate or peanut butter, and see what you get. But, be careful -- this
stuff is so addictive, you'll have to force yourself not to simply eat it like this.
Thank you for watching.