Day: January 14, 2015
Dulce de Leche
Anyone who knows me well, or indeed has travelled with me, will know that I am not much of a beach person. Even when armed with a beer and a good book, I can seldom plant myself on a beach for more than an hour without becoming fidgety. And don’t even get me started on the sand! It is this fact however, that perhaps best illustrates how delightful Paraty and Ilha Grande were. This small town and beautiful island located on the Costa Verde in south-eastern Rio state had a relaxing vibe that I hadn’t experienced in some time. Paraty itself was full of colonial charm and from there I embarked on a magical island-hopping cruise, where I swam, lounged and consumed my body weight in Caipirinhas. Anyone who remembers the Mezcal bus trip from Oaxaca: this was more or less the same, only on the ocean. Messy, but fun. Even more fun was when we relocated to Ilha Grande for a few nights. On this gorgeous island, we enjoyed the most phenomenal weather and survived a hike across the island to a secluded beach – that I actually enjoyed. Sure the fact that I was drenched in sweat and exhausted after the hike may have contributed, but it was relaxing and undeniably beautiful.
Both locations were notable for their natural beauty, golden sands, clear seas and lack of traffic. In fact there are no cars on Ilha Grande at all. But what was less notable, was the food. That’s not to say the food wasn’t good, the seafood in particular was spectacular, but the influence of the tourist trade meant my best meals were Spanish, Italian and Thai. Not a Brazilian meal in sight. So it is for this reason that I have decided to finally post a recipe for that most cloyingly delicious of south american confections – Dulce de Leche (for accuracies sake, it is called Doce de Leite in Brazil). Dulce de Leche literally translates as “sweet of milk” and is sometimes referred to as milk jam. What it is though, for those who don’t know, is a delicious caramel derived from the slow reduction of sweetened milk over a low heat. So ubiquitous is it that I ate Dulce in various forms in Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. And for anyone worried about investing so much time into making this delicious preserve, it really is very flexible. Peruvians dollop it liberally into Alfajores (recipe already posted), Brazilians heat it and pour it over ice cream, but the Argentinians (who are most adept at its use) treat it like Nutella in continental Europe, drizzling it over waffles and crepes, sandwiching it in between sponge cakes, spreading it on toast for breakfast and even stirring it into coffee as a sweetener. The joy of this recipe lies in its simplicity. If you have a spare day on a cold winter weekend, try making it. The aroma is reward enough and the stuff can be stored in sterilised jam jars for a good few weeks (but please store in the fridge.)
This recipe can be scaled down, by halving the ingredients, but this will alter cooking times slightly.
Level: low
Skills: reducing
Time: 3-4 hours
Makes: approximately 1kg (or 3 jam jars worth)
Ingredients
3 litres whole milk
800g golden granulated sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
1/2tsp baking powder
Method
1. Pour the milk into a large heavy based saucepan.
2. Add the sugar and vanilla extract.
3. Bring to the boil, then immediately reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for two hours, stirring from time to time (every 15 minutes or so) to prevent sticking.
4. When the mixture has reduced and begun turning a pale brown, remove it from the heat and stir in the baking powder. A foam will appear on top of the mixture, but this will disappear in a few minutes.
5. Return to the heat and continue reducing. As the mixture reduces you will need to stir it more frequently (every 4-5 minutes) to prevent it catching. This may take up to an hour.
6. As the mixture starts to turn a copper/caramel colour you will want to stir it constantly until you have reached the desired consistency (it should coat the back of a spoon and you should be able to pour it in a near-continuous stream.) Remember it will get denser as it cools.
7. While still warm, pour into your prepared jam jars.
8. Replace the lids and allow to cool fully before placing in the fridge.
Mastication / Destination 