Learn to make your own Dulce De Leche by simmering condensed milk for a couple of hours. It’s as simple as that and you can use it on any dessert you like!

Moody food photography. A glass with Dulce De Leche with a spoon on top and dripping dulce de leche.

Hi friends! Today’s blog post is short and sweet just like this Dulce De Leche recipe. It’s not really a recipe and you could rather say they’re “instructions” but you get my point.

What is Dulce De Leche?

It’s a traditional latin America dessert made by caramelizing sugar in milk. The difference between this dessert and caramel.

In Mexico, there is another version called “cajeta” and it’s made the same way but using goat’s milk.

A glass jar with surrounded by roses. Moody photography

There are two ways to make Dulce De Leche:

The time consuming way: By cooking whole milk, sugar & vanilla. This way is a little bit more tedious as you have to keep your eye on it constantly for a couple of hours and honestly who has time for that!
The lazy way: Just boil a can of condensed milk for 2.5 hours. Yep! that’s it! Do not be afraid of this method. I promise you the can WON’T explode!

Guess which method I decided to use? 😉

Method for the easy way:

We’ll start by removing the label from the sweetened condensed milk can. If you leave it on it’ll be a mess!
In a medium pot, place the can and fill with water enough to cover it completely.
Turn the heat to medium high heat and once it starts to boil, lower to medium heat. Enough to keep the bubbles going.
Cook the can for 2.5 hours, covered. Check the pot once in a while to make sure it’s always covered with water.
If the water starts to evaporate, just add more.

A glass jar with dulce de leche and two roses. Another small glass jar in foreground. Moody food photography

Cook’s notes:

When “cooking” the can in the pot, be sure to monitor the water to keep the can covered the entire time. This is what prevents the cans from exploding! But don’t be afraid of this method. This never happens unless you happen to leave the room for 5 hours!

Leftover dulce de leche can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to one month.

Rewarm to soften it up in a double boiler or microwave. Or just simply return to room temperature by leaving it on the kitchen counter for a couple of hours.

A close up photo of the jar with dulce de leche. One orange rose on the side.

Here is another latin American dessert that I’m sure you will love! Have you tried my Vanilla Bean Flan? If not, you much change that soon! It’s too good.