Easy Homemade Dulce de Leche

All you need is 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and a little patience to make the easiest homemade dulce de leche ever!

Some homemade dulce de leche recipes are made from actual ingredients like sugar and cream. This is actually a shortcut method that uses sweetened condensed milk, but it’s more homemade than opening a jar of store-bought dulce de leche, so we’ll go with it.

I first made dulce de leche years ago for these Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream and was amazed by how a simple cooking technique could transform canned sweetened condensed milk into delectable caramel. I have since made it several times for different recipes and always have perfect results. I’ve seen some recipes that boil the unopened can or put it in the crockpot, but from what I’ve read neither is particularly safe, so I prefer this method.

You start out by heating your oven to 425 degrees F. Then pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk into a pie plate or pyrex dish.

can of sweetened condensed milk next to a pie plate filled with the milk
pie plate filled with sweetened condensed milk

Cover the dish with foil and place it in a large roasting pan where it can sit flat. Then pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of halfway up the pie plate/dish.

roasting pan with foil covered pie plate inside

Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Carefully remove foil to avoid getting water into the dulce de leche.

easy homemade dulce de leche

Whisk until smooth. Now you have delicious dulce de leche that is ready to use in a number of recipes. Fourteen ounces of sweetened condensed milk makes just over a cup of dulce de leche.

easy homemade dulce de leche

Stay tuned for my next post where I share the awesome recipe for which this dulce de leche was created! (Updated: it’s the Samoa Bundt Cake!)

easy homemade dulce de leche pin

Recipes using Dulce de Leche

Samoa Bundt Cake
Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream

easy homemade dulce de leche

Easy Homemade Dulce de Leche

Meghan
The easiest homemade Dulce de Leche! All you need is 1 ingredient and some patience.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Cool time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine Latin
Servings 1 cup (approx.)

Equipment

  • glass pie plate or pyrex dish
  • aluminum foil
  • large roasting pan

Ingredients
  

  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 ounces)
  • hot water (for water bath)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
  • Pour 1 can of sweetened condensed milk into a glass pie plate or pyrex dish and cover with foil.
  • Place dish in a larger roasting pan where it can sit flat.
  • Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate/dish.
  • Place in oven and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
  • Remove from oven and let cool.
  • Carefully remove foil to avoid getting water into the dulce de leche. Stir until smooth.

Notes

You’re Gonna Bake It After All
bakeitafterall.com
Keyword dessert


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