Super Easy Dulce de Leche

Can we talk about dulce de leche?  Literally translated as a "sweet [made] of milk," I pretty much ate my weight in this stuff on the regular when I lived in Argentina 9 years ago.  It's got the texture and color of caramel, but is even sweeter, and goes well with just about any dessert.  When I moved back to the US, I brought a giant jar back with me, but quickly used it up.  Immediately thereafter, I made it my business to make some more.  It turns out, it could not be easier.  It's traditionally made of milk and sugar, cooked down very slowly and carefully over hours.  But, a very common alternative is to make it with sweetened, condensed milk.  That is what I've been doing for years, and I whipped up a batch yesterday for something I'm planning on making later in the week.

When I say easy, I mean it.  I got glutened (ugh!) over the weekend,  so yesterday I was seriously out of it.  I still managed to throw it together with almost no effort!  All you need is a can of sweetened, condensed milk, a small oven-safe vessel, a larger oven-safe vessel, and water!  As you can see from the pictures, I use a small quick bread tin and a glass pie plate, but you can use any oven-safe bowl or plate inside a larger baking ban, for example.

So, if you've got a can of sweetened condensed milk and a couple of hours at home, whip up a batch, and put in on EVERYTHING: pancakes, waffles, ice cream, any kind of cookie, cupcakes, cakes, muffins... You could even use it in place of the caramel in my gluten-free millionaire's shortbread recipe!  Lastly, stay tuned later this week for a special cupcake recipe I'm concocting with it!

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened, condensed milk
• Water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour the condensed milk into a small quick bread tin or other small, oven-safe container, and cover with tin foil.
3. Place the tin inside a glass pie plate or baking dish, and fill the outer dish with enough water to come half way up the tin.
4. Bake for approximately two hours, checking the water level regularly and adding water every 45 minutes to make sure it hasn't evaporated.  You'll know it's done when it's turned a caramel color and thickened.
5. Let cool (it will thicken as it cools), and enjoy this sweet South American treat!

NOTE:  I've made this with a shallower container (for example, pouring the milk into a pie plate, and then putting that inside a larger baking dish), and I find it takes less time to turn to dulce de leche: approximately an hour and a half.  However, the longer you cook it, the thicker and richer it will become!