If you have read this blog, you know I love caramel… 
With family coming over the holidays, I had to whip up a batch of dulce de leche to go over some decadent homemade vanilla ice cream. Of course, there’s nothing fast about making dulce de leche. It is a 3 hour long milk-jam-fest, but I think it is well worth it. In the end you have a caramelized jam that tastes distinctly of the milk you started with. As always, I urge you to use the best ingredients you can find because you are concentrating all those flavors.
Here are my recent exploits along with pictures:
Dulce de Leche
2 quarts or 1 half gallon Milk
24 oz Sugar
1 vanilla bean
3/4 tsp baking soda
1. Have sterile jars ready to go for your finished product. If you sterilize in the dishwasher, just leave them in there until you are ready. We are not making a pantry item, like fruit jams, and we will not be water-bath sealing the jars. This product must live in the refrigerator. I have found it lasts much longer than the pros suggest. They suggest between 1-2 months, and I have found it good in my fridge for 6.
2. Slice & scrape vanilla bean into milk, in the largest pot you have. It should be at least twice as tall as the amount of liquid you’re putting into it. (I use a 8″ high large wide oval enameled cast-iron oven – see pics.)
3. Bring milk up to almost boiling. (It is never good to walk away from boiling or almost-boiling dairy. Once you start this recipe, you are in the kitchen with that pot for almost 3 hours. Make sure you have a drink, a snack, and that you’re good to go.)
4. Add sugar and stir continuously until sugar dissolves and becomes completely incorporated into the milk.
5. As mixture comes almost to a boil once again, add the baking soda.
After adding Baking Soda
(BE PREPARED – this tiny amount of baking soda is going to cause a bubbly and hissy fit in the pot. In my pot, which is more than double the amount of milk, it does almost bubble over the edge. When this happens, I remove the pot from the heat for a few seconds to let it relax. Once manageable, I put right back on the heat.)
Calm after the Storm
6. Continue cooking and stirring this mixture until it is thick and brown. For me, this happens almost exactly 1 hour past
the addition of the baking soda. (You are looking for viscosity, while not allowing it to burn. Remember that brown color is the caramelization of the milk solids.
Getting Brown & Yummy
The darker you like your caramel, the darker you can let your dulche de leche go.
Be careful if you are pushing the envelope of color; it will burn in an instant!)
Brown & Bubbly
7. Once you have decided it is ready, remove from heat. 
Ladle into jars.
I use a canning funnel to make this easier and cleaner. I also leave about 1/2″ room of headspace at the top of the jar.
8. Once cooled to room temp, store jars in the fridge. Enjoy the fruits of your labor!
