When a lump of coal is subjected to unimaginable heat and pressure, it does not crumble, it transforms. Instead of disintegrating under the weight of the world, it uses that energy to reshape its structure and emerges as a diamond — brilliant and indestructible. A lump of coal that has been spared that pressure will be doomed to mediocrity and burned up with the pile, but if fate sees fit to force it to endure pain beyond the limits of its structure, the rewards are permanent and profound.
Milk is one of the few endlessly transformable ingredients. With the right combination of heat and additives, milk will change its structure and emerge in a hundred different ways. One of my favorite milk tricks is dulce de leche, a milk-based caramel sauce from South America. There are two ways to make this complex and lovely sauce — with a can of sweetened condensed milk and a lot of heat and time, or with a pot of milk and sugar and even more heat and time.
Ingredients from scratch:
4 cups whole milk
1 cup white sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons heavy cream
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Heat the milk and heavy cream over medium heat in a large, heavy bottomed saucepan.
Add the sugar when the milk steams and stir to dissolve.
Add the baking soda and stir until dissolved.
Heat the milk until it boils then turn down the heat until it is just hot enough to maintain a simmer.
Hold the milk at a simmer while it reduces for about an hour and a half. You will need to watch it and stir frequently to prevent the bottom from scorching.
About an hour after it began to simmer, the sauce will suddenly darken and will become much thicker — this means the sauce is almost ready. Be sure you are stirring constantly after this point.
To test it, drop a spoonful on a plate and hold it up — if the sauce runs off the plate it is not ready. If the sauce thickens enough to stop before it drips off the plate, it’s done.
Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
Transfer to a large bowl to let it cool. Place that bowl over a bigger bowl of ice water and stir to help it cool faster — this will help to prevent crystallization and will keep your sauce creamy instead of grainy.
Transfer to a glass jar and keep refrigerated until the end of time.
Directions for making from cans of sweetened condensed milk:
If you’re taking the time to make this, I suggest making more than one can at a time.
Remove the labels from the cans and clean the glue off them. If you don’t remove the label glue, it will end up on the walls of your pot and will be a nightmare to clean. I suggest Goo Gone for this.
Prepare a pot of water and drop the cans of milk in. The water should be deep enough to cover the cans by at least 2 inches. ***The cans need to be placed on their sides in the water, not upright.***
Bring the water to a rolling boil then reduce the heat until the bubbles are active but not angry. Just a gentle bubble is what we’re aiming for.
Cover with a lid and cook for 3 hours. Keep the pot covered and peek inside every hour to make sure there is still enough water to cover the cans. Add more hot water as you go to keep the cans properly submerged.
After those three hours, turn the heat off and let the water cool a bit before you remove the cans with canning tongs. Let the cans cool completely before attempting to open. DO NOT attempt to open the cans while they are hot — the cans are pressurized, and the molten sauce will explode out and burn you if opened too early.
Transfer opened cans to a glass jar before storing them in the refrigerator where it will last basically forever. If the sauce gets grainy, just reheat and stir. Keep unopened cans in the pantry.
