Homemade Dulce de Leche

Medically reviewed by Christiana George Updated Date: December 17, 2022

Well, I finally did it. I made some dulce de leche this weekend. I have been thinking about it for a long time, but was too scared to do it. I remember hearing one of our friends making some on the stove top and it exploded and there was sticky stuff all over the kitchen and ceiling. No thanks, don’t want anyone of that.

Then lately I have been reading about some food bloggers making it in a slow cooker. Hmm. That sounded a little safer. Usually, they put the cans of sweetened condensed milk directly into the slow cooker fill with water and voila, done in about 10hrs. But then I found a blogger who had a different idea. She put the milk into canning jars instead of leaving it in the can, due to the potential BPA contamination. That sounded like a great idea for me. Here is the link I couldn’t wait to try it.

All you need are 2 jars (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk, 3 wide mouth 1/2 pint canning jars and a slow cooker. What could be easier.

You just have to make sure you put enough water in the slow cooker. These jars fit perfect in my Crockpot.

And then set it for 10hrs. You might be able to put it on high and do it faster, but I didn’t want to risk it. I followed the steps as instructed. The end result being a fantastic tasting dulce de leche. Smooth, creamy and ready to spread on whatever you like. I spread some on the mini donuts I had just made. Mmmm!
And the best part is that there is no mess. The dulce de leche is already in jars. I put mine in the fridge for later use, but like says, you can put a cute tag on it and give it as gifts. I know quite a few people who would enjoy receiving this gift.

Homemade Dulce de Leche

by The Sweet Chick

Prep Time: 5-10 min

Cook Time: 10 hrs

Keywords: slow-cooker topping sweetened condensed milk Spanish

Ingredients (3- 1/2pt jars)

2 cans (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Also needed

3 wide mouth 1/2 pt canning jars
slow cooker
water

Instructions

Pour the cans of sweetened condensed milk evenly into the 3 canning jars and close lids firmly by hand.

Place canning jars at the bottom of your slow cooker and fill with hot water till there is at least 1 inch of water above the level of the jars. The hot water will speed up the cooking process.

Set your slow cooker to 10 hours. I quickly checked the results after 9 hours, but I let it run the full 10 hours as recommended.

After 10 hours, carefully remove the jars from slow cooker with canning tongs. Of course I didn’t buy these and just using regular tongs with rubber grippers. Just be careful not to drop the jar.

Place jars on a heat safe surface and let the jars cool off to room temperature. If there is any rust on the outside lids of the jar, just simply wipe it off.

Once it has cooled off, just unscrew the lids and dip in a spoon. The lids will be sealed, but with a little prying, do come off easily. Your dulce de leche is ready to be served on crepes, pancakes, fruit, donuts, or whatever you wish.

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Melty Chai Ice Cream With Honeycomb

Cold Desserts

Christiana George

Updated Date:
June 8, 2023

I am long overdue with a post, yet would you believe me if I told you that nothing I’ve cooked lately has turned out well?

There was a cauliflower gratin that drowned in too much cheese sauce, there was a papaya lassi that in theory sounded great, but in practice turned out bland and nothing, nothing, could fix it. There were blueberry scones that confirmed what I already knew: I don’t like scones. There was carnitas, which actually turned out wonderfully, but since I didn’t take any pictures, it’s like it never happened. Remind me to share it with you some time.

Do you ever have weeks like this? Weeks where all your efforts seem in vain, where you can’t even make a batch of banana bread muffins without botching it somehow? (I forgot to mix the butter in until the very last minute. Oops.) These have been discouraging times.

I’ve finally hit upon a recipe that I like, a lot. It came out tasting the way I imagined, pretty much perfect, and I’m actually excited that there’s quite a bit left over in the fridge. Most importantly, it feels true to me. The only negative is that it’s really melty. But c’mon guys, it’s chai ice cream! And there’s honeycomb in it! Melty or not, it tastes pretty spectacular.

I thought I’d share. I need to share. I’m so tired of keeping all this frustration to myself, and I’m pretty sure you all understand. So with that caveat, plow ahead. I’m sure that with a little bit of tinkering, I’ll get it right. Plus, I think where I went wrong is that I didn’t freeze it long enough before churning it (try to refrigerate the custard overnight if you can).

Here’s the honeycomb. It hardens in the ice cream to about the consistency of cookie dough.

MELTY CHAI ICE CREAM WITH HONEYCOMB

Makes about 1 quart

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups whole milk
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp loose black tea leaves (such as assam)
3/8 to 1/2 tsp chai masala (recipe below)
1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
6 egg yolks
about 1/2 pound honeycomb, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring milk and heavy cream to a simmer. Remove from heat. Place an infuser with the loose tea leaves and spices in the milk mixture and steep for about 20 minutes.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar until combined. Slowly add the milk mixture, whisking all the while. Return the mixture to the medium saucepan and turn the heat on to medium-low. Heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon and swiping a finger through leaves a line. Stir in the vanilla and transfer to a container, covered with saran wrap. Store in fridge at least 4 hours, although overnight is optimal.

The next day, churn the ice cream according to your manufacturer’s instructions, adding the honeycomb towards the end. Freeze until the ice cream is at the consistency you like.