Dulce de Leche Sous Vide

– by Chef Eric Villegas

Dulce de Leche Sous Vide
The world has a sweet tooth and nowhere is it more apparent than in South America. It is said that Dulce de Leche originated in Argentina in 1829 around Buenos Aires. The cooks who during a military campaign were preparing “la lechada” (a sweet concoction made by heating sugar and milk) were distracted when they mistakenly walked in on a peace treaty signing by the enemy. In the resulting chaos, the cook forgot about “la lechada.” By the time they got back to it had become a somewhat dark brown jelly like substance and Dulce de Leche was born.

Commonly made in South America at home by boiling unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk for two to three hours (how crazy is that?!) is an enduringly popular sweet treat. This sous vide version has the cook simply pouring the sweetened condensed milk into appropriately sized vacuum bags and vacuum seal using a chamber style machine. Nothing could be easier than sliding the bags into the water bath of the SV1 for 13 hours and during that time the natural sugars in the milk undergo a caramel like transformation that at first glance looks for all practical purposes like a batch of caramel but in fact is this sweet thick caramel like cream that can be used in a myriad of ways.

Dulce de leche has been and continues to be used to flavor candies or other sweets like cakes, churros, cookies, waffles, crème caramel and ice creams. Across the pond it provides the "toffee" part of the fabled English Banoffee pie and is also a popular spread on toast and pancakes, like today’s recipe for a Villegas breakfast favorite, the Dutch Baby. 

Dolce de Leche Sous Vide


dolce de leche sous vide

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces sweetened condensed milk

    • Directions:

    1. Preheat the VacMaster SV1 water batch to 185°F/85°C.

    2. Using the VacMaster Bag Stand and appropriate sized VacMaster Chamber Pouch add the sweetened condensed milk.

    3. Using a VacMaster chamber machine vacuum package the milk

    4. Gently place the bag in the water batch and cook 13 hours.

    5. Keep your eye on the water level and be prepared to top off with hot water.

    6. Depending on your setup it is a good idea to cover the water tank of the SV1 with a lid or plastic wrap to slow down evaporation.

    7. Carefully remove the bag from the water bath and use immediately or if using at another time submerge them for 30 minutes in an ice water bath to quick chill them and refrigerate until needed.