Dulce de Leche Recipe (2024)

By Dassana Amit
Last Updated: February 22, 2023

Gluten Free, Vegetarian
5 from 4 votes • 17 Comments

Literally translated as “sweet/candy made of milk,” Dulce de Leche is an addictively delicious, toffee-flavored type of caramel sauce made from just one ingredient: sweetened condensed milk. If you, like me, have been wanting to make Banoffee Pie but haven’t been able to get your hands on this special ingredient, your wait is over.

What is Dulce de Leche

Dulce de Leche (pronounced “dool-say day lay-chay”) is a caramelized confection made from sweetened milk. Originally from Latin America, this delectable spread has become wildly popular in Europe, America, and even India.

It also goes by the names “milk jam” or “caramelized milk” in the UK, confiture de lait in French, as well as manjar (“delicacy”) or ariquipe in other Spanish-speaking countries. If you make dulce de leche with goat’s milk, it’s known as cajeta.

Now dulce de leche is not easily available in most Indian cities but can be found online. So one of the ways is to make it yourself. This recipe will show you how.

I often make my own homemade dulce de leche. The first time I made it, I was simply bowled by the confection that dulce de leche is – thick, luscious, caramelized condensed milk with a toffee taste. It was just wow.

The toffee taste is one of the special characteristics of dulce de leche and can make you an addict if you have a sweeth tooth.

Methods To Make Dulce de Leche

• Slow Cooking Sweetened Milk – This method takes hours and hours on end with frequent stirrings in a pan on a stovetop. This is the traditional method, but unless you have plenty of time on hand, avoid it.
• Pressure Cooker or Pot – In this method, cans of sweetened condensed milk are cooked in a pan or pressure cooker with water. This one is an easy method, but there are chances of the can bursting. Why take the risk of such a mess?
• Oven Method – This is my favorite method to make dulce de leche. It won’t need much babysitting like the other options. Simply pour sweetened condensed milk in a pan nestled inside another pan with hot water. Bake for an hour or two hours. The hardest part is getting the pan out of the oven to check the condensed milk without spilling the hot water.

Note that dulce de leche made with sweetened condensed milk will be more sweeter than the one made using the traditional method with sweetened milk.

Aside from being addictively delicious (seriously, I’ve been putting this stuff on everything from my morning toast to ice cream, stirring it into Coffee and slathering it on Waffles and Pancakes, plus making my favorite: banoffee pie), this recipe is:

• Safe & Easy. Open a can, pour the contents into a pan, then bake in a bain marie. It’s so simple!
• Mess-Free. There’s only 1 pan to clean.
• Made With Just 1 Ingredient – ONE! And that is sweetened condensed milk. I have used a local brand but you can use any brand of sweetened condensed milk.

The oven method is adapted from David Lebovitz’swebsite.

Step-by-Step Guide

How To Make Dulce De Leche

Preparation

1. In a oven-safe, high heat-proof, ceramic pie pan pour condensed milk from 1 can (400 grams or 14 ounces).

Using a small silicone spatula scrape the sides and bottom of the can and add all of the condensed milk to the pan.

2. Seal the pan tightly with a tin foil or aluminium foil.

Seal properly and do not leave any surface of the condensed milk exposed – this will cause the oven heat to come in direct contact with the condensed milk, that might dry it out and blacken or char it.

3. Place this pan in a larger pan. A roasting pan can also be used. Preheat oven at 220° C/430° F for 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Heat water till it starts boiling in a pan over the stovetop or use an electric kettle to boil water.

5. Carefully pour the hot water in the baking pan or roasting tray till it reaches halfway up the side of the pie pan.

Note that the amount of water to be added will depend on the size of the pans used.

Bake Dulce De Leche

6. Using oven mitts (oven gloves) carefully place both the pans in the oven.Bake at 220° C/430° F for an hour or two hours.

7. For a light caramelization of the condensed milk, you can bake for an hour. For a deeper caramelization, bake for two or for more than two hours.

Check and taste after an hour to see how you like it. Remove the pans carefully using oven mittens.

8. If you need more caramelization, then continue to bake for more 30 minutes to 1 hour, or more.

You can also add a pinch of salt (optional) in the dulce de leche after it is done. Mix well and use in desserts or sweets.

9. As you can see, it will continue to deepen in color as it bakes for more time. I baked for a total of 2 hours and 45 minutes.

10. Keep in mind that the baking time will vary depending on the temperature in the oven. So do check after 1 hour as checking often is difficult.

If the caramelization is less, then continue to bake for more 30 minutes to 1 hour or more. You can also check after 2 hours.

11. Dulce de leche stays well at room temperature for a few days. It will keep in a lidded jar for a month in the fridge.

If you are planning to use dulce de leche within a day, then you might as well keep it at room temperature.

Note that if you keep it in the fridge, the color lightens and the consistency becomes more fluid.

FAQs

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This homemade Dulce De Leche recipe from the archives first published in August 2019 has been updated and republished on February 2023.