The first time I was seduced by Dulce de Leche sauce was at a small Latin restaurant in Miami.  I can remember that first taste like it was yesterday.  I had spent the evening at a concert down the street at the legendary Churchill’s Pub.  After the concert we ventured out for the traditional midnight snack, filling our bellies for the long ride home.  I don’t remember the name of the restaurant and I can’t seem to recall the band (it was a very-very long time ago).   I do, however, remember the sweet – sticky – luscious sauce, oozing slowly down the side of my cake, affectionately known as “Tres Leche”.

I made Dulce de Leche for the first time last Friday.  It’s one of the star ingredients for the Apple Dulce de Leche pie I made for #pie party live.  I adapted this recipe from Lori over at Recipe Girl.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Makes 1 1/2 cups

Pour can of sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate.  Place pie plate within a larger pan, one that’s large enough to accommodate a water bath and fit a pie dish within it, like a roasting pan.  Fill pan with hot water until you reach mid way of your pie dish.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours.  (Every oven temperature differs and baking times vary, check the progress of your sauce often, as well as adding more water to your pan as needed).

You want your Dulce De Leche sauce to reach a golden brown, rich and thick caramelization, once you’ve reached the desired consistency, remove from the oven and let cool.  Once cooled, blend until a creamy smoothness has been reached.

You may store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to a week, if you can wait that long; or until ready to serve.  When you do serve this lovely sauce, warm it up and dollop over ice cream, drizzle onto fruit, or pour all over your cakes.  But…. the best way to eat Dulce de Leche by the spoonful.