Milk Jam?

[aimee]

I bought a bottle of milk jam from Fauchon today. It looks delicious but I'm not sure exactly what it is or what to do with it. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[GG Mora]

Milk Jam is Dulce de Leche. It's made by boiling and simmering milk with sugar until it's reduced to the thick, gorgeous stuff that you have now. It has a deep, satisfying caramel flavor and a luscious creamy texture. It's often used as a filling for cakes and other confections, is delicious drizzled over ice cream, makes an excellent dip for fresh fruit, and turns a simple cup of coffee or hot cocoa into a dreamy quaff. You can also eat it straight from the jar with a spoon, or your fingers, but it disappears quickly used this way. Don't say I didn't warn you.

[aimee]

Your description has me opening the jar with one hand and typing with the other! Thanks.

[Chris VR]

I was stumped by the Milk Jam term, thanks for clearing it up! GG, what's your technique for making dulche de leche?

(PS I was trying to email you earlier, but it bounced, nothing important but email me if you have time.)

[Joel Teller]

I've used the "unopened can" method (link is below). I've made it with the nonfat condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk), as well as with the usual condensed milk. Supposedly this method is dangerous because the can might explode -- it's never happened to me or anyone I know. If you try it, and it explodes, don't sue me.

Link: http://www.milk.com/recipes/dessert/d...

[Chris VR]

Did you notice a significant difference between the non-fat and full-fat versions?

[Joel Teller]

My Argentinian acquaintance said that my "in-the-can" version, made with NON-FAT condensed (sweetened) milk, was acceptable. I find it too sweet for my palate; I like sweets with acidity. But a little goes a long way.

She said that in the very old days, no one made it at home; it is very labor-intensive... She claims that the nuns at the convents made it, as a money-raiser. She said they'd simmer the milk in big copper vats, stirring constantly (I guess they had the time and the patience). Then people would go to the convent and buy it from the nuns.

[Pat Hammond]

My son and his wife first had this in Argentina. The only thing they requested that I bring to them when I visitied in London was dulce de leche. I ordered a couple of jars from Zingerman's. It's an Argentine product. They're a very nice company to deal with.

I've done the boiling can method with no problems, too.

Link: http://Zingermans.com/Product.pasp?Ca...

[GG Mora]

I use a recipe from Saveur magazine. Use this link:

http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=15254&typeID=120

I find that all the skimming really isn't necessary. I have an Argnetinian friend who says they never skimmed when they made it at home. She also recommended putting a bunch of glass marbles in the pan...their movement keeps the scum from building up on the bottom and sides of the pan. She was kind enough to give me her mother's recipe for alfajores, the little cakes commonly filled with DdL. It calls for thickening the DdL with cornstarch to keep it from running out of the layers, but I'd be tempted to use tapioca instead.

I've done a bit of experimenting with the various methods, specifically the boil-the-can thing. Trust me when I say the boiling a can produces nothing like what you get from long-cooking whole milk.

I posted results of my trials, with photographs, on another site. If you're interested, click on the link below and scroll down to the 10th post.

Link: http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?s...

[Chris VR]

Thanks- wow the pics really do tell the whole story, don't they! Although maybe I've been getting my dulche de leche from the wrong places, because it's always looked and tasted like the stuff from the can method, but now I want to see what the real stuff is like!

[eel]

Here's a recipe for a cake that uses milk jam/DDL as part of the filling--basically a german chocolate cake filling. I used the boil-sweetened-condensed-milk-in-the-can method to make the DDL.

I agree that this does not make the "real thing" (i.e., DDL from Argentina, which I also enjoyed on a trip there), but it's still good. And for this recipe, it works fine.

The whole cake is wonderful, but the filling particularly so.

Link: http://food.epicurious.com/run/recipe...