Dulce de Leche

So, Dan and I just got back from a week in Costa Rica. We're a little more tan, a little more relaxed, and approximately $1200 poorer. No, that's not how much our trip cost...it's the combined value of all the stuff that got stolen from us on the beach at Playa Grande, Montezuma. Yeah. Don't you just love petty thievery?

Anyway.

Other than the bag-snatching incident, it was a good trip. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and we even managed to squeeze in an exhilarating zip-lining tour through the canopy before racing home a few days early to take care of bank account stuff. Even so, I was more than a little bummed when we got home (I could still be on the beach, you know!). Instead of wallowing, though, I decided to make something for my blog. That's dedication, y'all.

So, why dulce de leche? Why not? Also, I had a bunch of condensed milk leftover from way back when, and it needed to be consumed one way or the other. Besides, dulce de leche is delicious, and the process of making it seemed pretty straightforward. Easy enough for a Friday night, anyway.

In the end, I was too much of a wussy to go the usual route and boil a can of condensed milk for 3 hours. I mean...I was not prepared to hover over a pot in the kitchen for multiple hours, and then what if the can exploded and my kitchen caught fire? I really couldn't handle a destroyed kitchen after getting robbed. Fortunately though, I was able to find a recipe online that didn't involve can-boiling -- just good ol' oven + condensed milk in a pan + water bath action.

Since I've never made dulce de leche any other way, I can't comment on any difference in texture or taste, but I can tell you that it's delicious. Thick and creamy, delightfully sticky, sweet, caramel-y goodness. Yum.

Dulce de Leche

Ingredients:
- 1 14 oz can of condensed milk

Steps:
(1) Preheat oven to 425.
(2) Pour condensed milk into a round baking dish. (I used a Pyrex pie dish)
(3) Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
(4) Place dish in a larger baking pan, and fill pan with water until 2/3 of the pie dish is submerged.
(5) Stick whole thing in the oven for 60-90 minutes, checking every 30 minutes to see if mixture is burning, or if water needs refilling.
(6) Pull dish out of the oven, uncover, and whisk mixture until smooth. Let cool, then store in airtight bottle or jar.
(7) Enjoy by the spoonful, smeared on top of stuff, or baked into desserts.