Dulce de Leche (al día siguiente)

May 28, 2015 2:22 PM

Making homemade dulce de leche with my daughter for a Spanish class project. Need advice on how to keep, re-warm, etc.

So we're making Chocolate Empanadas with Dulce de Leche(SLAnnoyingAdsOnTheSide).

For her Spanish class, she and a partner were given dulce de leche as their "major ingredient" for a dish. It must be made from scratch, which isn't a big deal. These are due on Wednesday, and for scheduling purposes, it would be much easier for us to make the time-consuming dulce de leche on either Sunday or Monday evening.

We'll make the empanadas (somewhat easier) on Tuesday evening.

I just need some pointers/advice on how I should keep and then (possibly) re-heat the dulce de leche when we fill the empanadas. Is the re-heating even necessary? Won't it be quite difficult to spoon into the empanadas if refrigerated?

posted by kuanes to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Best answer: I just have some that I made in a jar in the fridge. Yes, it would be very difficult to portion out. I suspect letting it come to room temperature and then zapping it in the microwave for ten seconds at a time if necessary would make it spoonable.
posted by cmoj at 2:32 PM on May 28, 2015

I make mine via the crockpot method (takes longer, but almost no actual personal interaction time), so I don't know if this makes a difference in the cooled texture, but it's pretty pudding-y with a touch of goo-y when cold.

I microwave it in quick bursts with stirs, but I have also set my jar of DDL in near-boiling water from my electric kettle in a bowl to keep it soft and loose on a buffet, which you could do. Or, if you had a thermos/keep-warm jar, you could nuke it at home and bring it in the jar so it'll still be pretty warm and soft in class, if you don't have access to a microwave.

I think it'd probably be manageable, if not texturally perfect, spreading it with a butter knife at room temperature if you had to.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:35 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The longer you cook dulce de leche, the firmer/more caramelized it gets. But I've never seen it become so firm you couldn't use it as a filling.

If it were me, I'd put it in a ziplock bag and cut off one corner to dispense it.

Dulce de leche is sticky; I'd avoid using a spoon.
posted by homodachi at 2:37 PM on May 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Also note that the recipe doesn't say anything about pre-heating the dulce de leche. From the photos it looks like she simply added it in, which means it was either a fresh can from the supermarket (room temperature) or an already-opened jar kept in the fridge. It shouldn't make a huge difference either way.
posted by homodachi at 2:42 PM on May 28, 2015

Best answer: I'd just let the container of dulce de leche sit in a bowl of hot/warm water. I would not recommend warming it in a microwave as it tends to heat inconsistently and might even bubble up and explode. You do not want to clean up bits of dulce de leche from your kitchen. Ask me how I know.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 2:51 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've made it and it's thick but spreadable from the fridge. I would just use two spoons (like a drop cookie) since it's sticky no matter what.
posted by O9scar at 3:07 PM on May 28, 2015

Pro kitchen tip for spooning sticky things: spray the spoon with whatever cooking spray you have, or rub it with oil. Then spoon the sticky thing.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:13 PM on May 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: To be more specific: should I refrigerate the dulce de leche for the 24-48 hours before I make the empanadas, or should I keep it at room temperature for that duration?
posted by kuanes at 3:31 PM on May 28, 2015

Best answer: You want to keep it in the fridge until you take it to school.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:37 PM on May 28, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I think we'll refrigerate, then put the bowl/jar into warm water for an hour or so before making the empanadas.
posted by kuanes at 3:42 PM on May 28, 2015

Are you making the dulche de leche in a can via the simmering method? That way it can sit, contained and preserved, in the can until it is ready to use. Then you can reheat it in a double boiler until it is the right consistency.
posted by Lycaste at 3:43 PM on May 28, 2015

No, op specified that it has to be made from scratch.
posted by brujita at 4:37 PM on May 28, 2015

I swear by this recipe for 24-hour slow cooker dulce de leche whenever I need it for some reason. (Yes, the recipe says cajeta, but unless you're using goat's milk, it's dulce de leche).

I like that I can throw it into the slow cooker the day before, not have to watch it like a hawk, and keep it warm until serving time. I can strain it back into the slow cooker to keep it warm, or into a jar for storage.

Also, if you're going to microwave your dulce de leche to warm it up, do it on low/defrost in 30 second increments, stirring in between, much like you would to melt chocolate in the microwave. Less risk of boiling sugar everywhere!
posted by PearlRose at 7:21 AM on May 29, 2015