Sous Vide Dulce de Leche Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you overcook dulce de leche? ›

Overcooking Dulce de Leche will make it too thick and maybe even taste burnt. To avoid overcooking, do a cold plate test. You simply dab a small amount of the caramel on a cold plate and turn it sideways. See how far the caramel runs.

Thickness: in order to obtain a really thick dulce de leche, you have to bake it for a really long time. However, the longer you bake it, the more scorched it gets. Frosting use: if the dulce de leche is too lumpy it won't work well for frosting.

Set pot over high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours for light, golden caramel, and up to 3 hours for dark, robust caramel; check pot every 30 minutes to ensure water level stays above can, adding boiling water as necessary to keep can under 2 inches of water.

It's a thick, creamy, perfectly sweet confection made be heating sweetened milk. It has a beautiful nutty color and wonderful depth of flavor, which I would describe as a milky caramel. Dulce de leche is a really versatile ingredient you can use in cakes, cupcakes, sundaes and on cookies.

Tip: To thicken stovetop dulce de leche, make a slurry of 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch with 1 1/4 teaspoons milk. Bring it to a very slow boil over medium heat, whisk this slurry into the dulce de leche, and continue to boil slowly for five minutes before removing from heat and cooling.

Though you're keeping the temperature low, be sure you get the heat up enough to fully dissolve your sugar or you'll end up with grainy dulce de leche. If this happens to you, you can try smoothing it out by reheating it and stirring in a little more milk or half-and-half.

If caramels are too soft, that means the temperature didn't get high enough. Again place the caramel back into a sauce pan with a couple of tablespoons of water and heat to 244°F. If you don't have a candy thermometer, you can test with a cold water test.

Dulce de leche may thicken as it cools down, so you may need to thin it out over some simmering water to use it as a garnish for ice cream or cheesecake.

Too short of a cooling time: Caramel sauce thickens significantly as it cools, so let the caramel cool for the appropriate time to achieve the right thickness. If the sauce is still too thin after cooling completely, place it back on the stovetop and reheat it on low heat for a few additional minutes.

Why add baking soda to the sauce? The baking soda will help with the reactions necessary to make the sauce thick and dark, with a rich taste. As you cook the milk and sugar together, water will evaporate, making the solution more acidic, and proteins will begin to coagulate.

Why is my dulce de leche chunky? ›

It's not uncommon for it to seem lumpy at first, but as you whisk the lumps should disappear and it should be smooth. If you've whisked for 15 seconds and things are still lumpy, you might have burnt your dulce de leche, unfortunately (did the water level get too low?).

The longer you cook, the thicker and darker the dulce de leche will be. For a light and runny dulce de leche, cook for 2.5 hours, for a dulce de leche that is easy to pipe and holds its shape, cook for 3.5 to 4 hours.

As it continues to cook, the milk will caramelize and eventually it turns a deep golden brown color with a thick, sticky texture. Total cooking time is between 40-60 minutes or until the milk has reduced to about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (300-360 ml). Dulce de Leche can be stored in the refrigerator for at least a month.

Dulce de leche is basically sweetened condensed milk that has continued cooking until the sugars have caramel used. You can make SCM into DdL by boiling the unopened can of SCM for a couple of hours.

If it registers 212°F or 100°C, you are good to go. If not, it is time to replace it. If caramels are too hard, you can try placing them back in a saucepan, adding a couple tablespoons of water and stirring until the thermometer reads 242°F. Pour back into a prepared buttered pan.

Overheating the mixture

Once it gets a burnt or bitter flavor, it can't be saved. Luckily, sugar is inexpensive, so you can always start over! (Here's how to store leftover caramel!)

The liquefied sugar is then cooked, without stirring, until it darkens in color, taking on additional flavor notes the longer it remains on the heat. You want to hit the sweet spot here: If the caramel is too light, it won't have much flavor, but if it gets too dark, it will taste burnt and bitter.

If dulce de leche has gone bad, you may notice a number of changes. First of all, it might develop a darker color and hard, crystallized lumps. It can also develop an off smell - something fermented or sour, which is not typical of its usual sweet, creamy aroma.