Eat Your Dulce De Leche: Dulce De Leche Gelato

Awhile back, I shared this method for making your own amazingly rich and creamy dulce de leche. I actually learned it from Jamie Oliver's recipe for toffee apple tart. Which, by the way, I just made for a second time with a few adjustments. Boy, was I surprised when the overall consensus was "This is definitely worse than last time's."

I honestly thought it was too sweet last time, so I reduced the amount of sugar in the apples, as well as used the proper kind of apples plus more lemon in the apples and crust. Everyone said they liked it better the first time. Hmph.

Anyway, so I had the leftover dulce de leche (about 3/4 of a can), and I thought I would finally try making a dulce de leche gelato. I found this recipe from Emeril which got rave reviews, and it sounded interesting to me. I've only made gelato once before (olive oil flavor), and the method was completely different. In that case, the egg yolks were not tempered with hot cream, but mixed in cold. Emeril says to make a brown sugar simple syrup, then mix that in with the yolks over a double boiler until it start to "ribbon" (basically thick enough so when the spoon is lifted up over the mixture, "ribbons" are visible on the surface as it drips).

I have to say this method made a wonderful, creamy gelato with amazing flavor and texture. Highly recommended. Makes me wonder what other flavors of gelato can be made using this method...

Eat Your Dulce De Leche: Toffee Apple Tart

I'm prepping for a month full of exciting travels, which I will surely post some photos of (food and otherwise), but before heading out I wanted to add a couple of recipes where one can use the lovely homemade dulce de leche. The first is a toffee apple tart from Jamie Oliver, and this is where I actually picked up the instructions to make the dulce de leche from canned condensed milk.

Speaking of Jamie, anyone been watching his new show, Food Revolution, where he goes around American schools trying to change the usual fare from fast food to more healthy stuff? I haven't seen it yet, but have heard good things from various sources (ok, one source--the other told me he saw a crazy commercial featuring a yelling match between Jamie and some school cooks). I saw parts of the British version though, and I'm all for the idea of "healthifying" elementary school food. It reminded me of when a certain wise someone said, "There used to be one or two fat kids in the class. Now there's one or two skinny kids."

Anyway back to the topic at hand. I found the recipe online here on his website, and also realized that you could substitute other fruits, and that this is essentially what banoffee pie is, no? Must try that next. The flavors were excellent though, it is basically a caramel apple with a flaky shortbread crust. Look at the cool method Jamie recommends for making the crust! You first shape the dough into a roll and slice them into rounds, as if you are making cookies...

Then simply lay them out into your tart dish and press them together to form a continuous crust!

One thing I regret is that I used the apples I had on hand, which were Fuji apples. I should have realized that the crispness of the Fuji apple would not go well with a baked apple dessert, and indeed, the apples would not "uncrisp" even through several minutes of overbaking. What makes an apple good for baking? A baking or cooking apple has to be somewhere in the middle in terms of texture--it can't be too crisp like a Fuji, and it can't turn to mush during baking like a Red Delicious. But to be safe, I would look up the actual type of apple that is best for your particular recipe. For this recipe, perhaps a Golden Delicious or Granny Smith, but these guides should also help.

Make Your Own Dulce De Leche

I'm very embarrassed to say it has almost been a month since my last post! Actually by the time I finish writing this, it will have been a month. Sigh, what can I say, work has gotten the better of me these days! I'm still trying my best to cook whenever I can, but taking the time to post is another issue...

But anyway, before too much more time passes, I wanted to share a really neat and quick "mini-recipe" that's almost like magic. It's for making your own heavenly dulce de leche with nothing but a can of condensed milk and a pot of water! I actually learned this in the process of making a toffee apple tart (hence the apples and pie crust in the photo above) from Jamie's Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook.

He describes the process of making "toffee" from sweetened condensed milk, and it couldn't be simpler: "Put your unopened tins of condensed milk in a high-sided pan, covered with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer constantly for about 3 hours with a lid on top. It’s very important to remember to keep checking the pan, as you don’t want it to boil dry – otherwise the tins will explode. It will give you the most amazing toffee. Put the tins to one side and allow to cool."

Ok, so I will acknowledge it is a bit time consuming ("3 hours?"). And a little bit risky, it would seem ("Exploding tins?"). But honestly, don't let that stop you, because opening that once humble can of condensed milk to find silky smooth, golden dulce de leche is really worth it. I used a large pasta pot and filled it close to the brim to prevent any explosions, and checked it every half hour or so to make sure the water level was decent. The resulting caramel was quite thick yet spreadable, but supposedly if a more pourable consistency is desired, one can shorten the simmering time accordingly.

Why does this magic reaction occur? Wikipedia states: "Much of the water in the milk evaporates and the mix thickens; the resulting dulce de leche is usually about a sixth of the volume of the milk used. The transformation that occurs in preparation is caused by a combination of two common browning reactions called caramelization and the Maillard reaction." Both reactions require sugars, which is why sweetened condensed milk is required for dulce de leche; evaporated, or non-sweetened condensed milk lacks the added sugar for the reactions to occur.