On any given day, you will usually find me multitasking on 20 different things, so time is definitely of the essence for me as I am sure it is for many of you in your daily lives. I always want to try and simplify my life with easily prepared meals and desserts because friends are always dropping by to visit.
This is a little trick I picked up many years ago that makes the most delicious caramel sauce or caramel filling you have ever had. All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) along with a pot filled with hot water. All you need to do is peel off the label, immerse it completely in boiling water and cook on a slow simmer for 4 hours. I will usually do this when I am working on other things around the house, and by the time I am finished, so is the caramel!
You can adjust the consistency of the caramel with the cooking time. If you want a thinner ‘sauce’ type consistency, cook only for about 2 hours, but if you want a spreadable consistency, you will need 4 hours. The most important thing to remember here is that the can must always be submerged in water, so as the water evaporates continue to add more water to cover the can. If you do not do this, pressure can build up in the can and cause it to explode. I have been making this for many years, and have never had an issue, but I definitely followed the directions to avoid the problem. If this makes you nervous, you can still make this delicious sauce/filling, but you can use your oven instead.
Preheat your oven to 425° F. Open I can of sweetened condensed milk and pour this into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish, then set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate. Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary, make sure the water is as high as the dulce de leche, otherwise the surface may burn. Once the caramel has browned nicely, remove from the oven and let cool, then whisk until smooth. The sauce is perfect over ice cream, apple pie, makes a great topping for yogurt. The firm filling is perfectly spreadable for cookie sandwiches and cakes.
**Image provided by desertcandy.blogspot.com
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