Homemade Dulce de Leche 煉奶焦糖醬 (焗爐製法)

Dulce de Leche is a sweet, toffee tasting sauce that is classically made from caramelizing milk and sugar. It can be used as a spread, dipping sauce or as a flavoring in baked goods, filling/frosting, candy making, and many other desserts. You could even just eat this as a candy. The easiest way to make it at home is to heat up a can of sweetened condensed milk until it is caramelized. If you google for its recipe, you will find that there are several ways to do it: with the use of oven, stovetop, pressure cooker, crock pot and microwave. You may call me chicken but I don’t feel comfortable heating an unopened can in water (for fear that it will explode if water dries out). I don’t own a pressure cooker or a crock pot I am unwilling to stand in front of my stove to constantly stir my condensed milk for hours. Nor do I want a microwaved Dulce de Leche that doesn’t have a smooth texture despite of the quickest time it takes. With all that said, my only option relies on my oven, which is what I will be sharing today.

煉奶焦糖醬是將奶和糖混合煮至焦化的醬, 味道似拖肥糖, 可作塗抹及沾醬之用, 亦可用作調味加入烘焙食品、夾餡、霜飾、糖果及甜品等 (甚至把它當糖果吃亦可). 最簡易的自家製法是將現成的煉奶加工. 網上有好幾種利用不同炊具的做法: 焗爐、煮食爐、壓力煲、慢煮鍋、微波爐等均可將煉奶加熱至焦化. EC不夠膽將整罐煉奶好像煮溏心罐頭鮑魚般將罐頭整罐浸在水中烹煮(罐頭外露受熱過度會引致爆炸). 家中沒有壓力煲和慢煮鍋, 亦沒空站在爐頭前幾小時睇火. 微波爐做法雖快但做出來的焦糖醬口感並不順滑. 所以EC的唯一做法便是使用焗爐. 這亦是今天的分享.

Homemade Dulce de Leche (The Oven Method)
自家製煉奶焦糖醬 (焗爐製法)

What you need 工具及材料

A can of sweetened condensed milk 煉奶一罐
A dash of sea salt 海鹽少許
Oven-safe glass dish or pie pan 焗爐耐熱玻璃碗或派盤
Big roasting pan 大型烤盤
Foil (not shown) 錫紙
Spatula or spoon 膠刮或匙羹

Directions 做法

Preheat oven to 425ºF/220ºC.
焗爐預熱425ºF/220ºC.

With a spatula or spoon, pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into an oven-safe glass dish or pie pan (I prefer glass as you can easily see the color change inside without taking the pan out). Sprinkle with some sea salt and cover the top with foil.
將煉奶倒進耐熱玻璃碗或派盤中(EC用耐熱玻璃碗方便檢查顔色), 上面灑上少許海鹽, 用錫紙包好

It says do not heat in can.
罐子上面印着不要原罐加熱

Place glass dish or pie pan in a bigger roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with hot water until it reaches half way up the sides of the dish or pan. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes or until thick and caramel-colored. Check water level half way and add water if desired.
碗或派盤放在另一個較大的烤盤中, 盤中注入熱水(水深約到碗一半高度), 入爐焗60至90分鐘或至煉奶變成稠身及咖啡色(中途要檢視烤盤要不要加水)

I checked after 60 minutes but it wasn’t done yet. So I baked for another 30 minutes, checking every 15 minutes, until the color turned nicely brown.
焗了一小時仍未夠, EC再焗多半小時至轉為啡色, 其間每十五分鐘檢查一次

Remove pan from oven and let cool a bit (it is super hot). Stir until smooth. Once cool, it can be used right away or be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge until ready to use. Reheat briefly before using if taken right out of the refrigerator.
取出烤盆 (小心熱)稍放涼後將煉奶焦糖醬攪拌至順滑後可直接使用或入盒放雪櫃保存. 焦糖醬雪藏後會變硬, 使用前可先加熱

Red Bean White chocolate green tea mousse topped with Dulce de Leche whipped cream
紅豆白朱古力綠茶慕士配煉奶焦糖醬忌廉