Dulce de Leche Bownies

Many moons ago, I spotted this amazing looking recipe on my friend David's little blog, honestly speaking he doesn't know me but I know him very well, by reading through his entire blog! Yeah something came over me one day, I just sat down and started reading away. Ever since I read about this amazing looking Dulce de Leche  Brownies (aka DLB) of his and upon seeing how many people in different parts of the world have tried it and said that it tasted awesome. I just knew I have to find out what they are raving about. 


One thing that is blocking my way from having this amazing looking brownie is the dreaded Dulce de Leche. It's kind of like a caramel in color but its not caramel, it's actually a slow cooked milk that thickens and get super sticky as it cooks. You will know that its ready when it has this rich amber color but not burnt. Sounds easy right? Well its not, it took me four times to get this right. I tried the submerging the whole can in water and boil away for 2 hours or so, mine turn out an utter failure. I even tried the pressure cooker method but to no avail, each can I opened were under cooked. The big problem with these methods is the fact that you cannot see the inside of the can so you have no idea whether or not the milk has cooked enough. Soupy dulce de leche is no fun to use. I tired making into DLB, well...let me tell you in advance, that its not a pretty sight! 

The day before my little nephew was born, I finally managed to make a Dulce de Leche that looks yummy and looks just about the right consistency. Finally! The brownie recipe itself is an easy dump in one bowl kind of recipe and the sticky dulce de leche is then dalloped all over the batter. You can put as many or as little as you want, however keep in mind the the dulce de leche is not touching the baking pan or else it might burn and ruin your pan.

DULCE DE LECHE BROWNIES

• 8 tablespoons (115g) salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup (25g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup (140g) flour
• optional: 1 cup (100 g) toasted pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup Dulce de Leche (or Cajeta)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (175 C).
2. Line a 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with a long sheet of aluminum foil that covers the bottom and reaches up the sides. If it doesn’t reach all the way up and over all four sides, cross another sheet of foil over it, making a large cross with edges that overhang the sides. Grease the bottom and sides of the foil with a bit of butter or non-stick spray.
3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the chocolate pieces and stir constantly over very low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sugar, vanilla, then the flour. Mix in the nuts, if using.
4. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan. Here comes the fun part.
5. Drop one-third of the Dulce de Leche, evenly spaced, over the brownie batter, then drag a knife through to swirl it slightly. Spread the remaining brownie batter over, then drop spoonfuls of the remaining Dulce de Leche in dollops over the top of the brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the Dulce de Leche slightly.
6. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. The brownies are done when the center feels just-slightly firm. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
7. Storage: These brownies actually become better the second day, and will keep well for up to 3 days.

Another Chocolate Chip

I was re reading previous blog post that I've written and I just realized that I make a lot of chocolate chips and I blog about them A LOT! But then who gets tired of making and eating chocolate chips? Certainly not me. Here is another chocolate chip recipe that I've been meaning to try and it turns out good. It's more on the crisp on the edges and gooey and soft at the center. This recipe came from one of the funniest people that I know. Reading his blog has been part of my daily routine, I love imagining living in Paris when I get old and eating Parisian pastries everyday. Though his blog I get a glimpse of Paris...

BLUE CHIP CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Adapted from David Lebovitz, The Great Book of Chocolate

• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 120 grams brown sugar
• 115 grams unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 175 grams all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 200 grams semi sweet chocolate chips
• 130 grams walnuts or pecans, toasted

1. Adjust the oven rack to the top third of the oven and preheat to 300F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Beat the sugars and butter together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla and baking soda.
3. Sift together the flour and salt, then mix them into the batter. Mix in the chocolate chips and the nuts.
4. Scoop the cookie dough into 2 tbsp.balls and place 8 balls spaced 4 inches apart on each baking sheets.
5. Bake for 18 minutes or until pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
6. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for 3 days. 

Slow Cooked Dulce de Leche

After so many times of trying, I have finally successfully made Dulce de Leche! I have tried the in the can boiling many times before but I often undercooked it and didn't get the rich amber brown color, I think it has something to do with the fact that I read somewhere that it could explode. Thankfully it haven't happened to me yet. After every unsuccessful attempts, I set aside my plans for it and make other dessert to make me feel much better. I often check online what I did wrong and search blogs and forums to see if other bakers encountered same problem as me. 


I stumbled upon a blogger that made dulce de leche by using slow cooker! Jumping up and downm I screamed "I have that!!!" In the middle of the night, in my pj's I went to the kitchen and hunt for our slow cooker. As you can see in the photo below, mine is small and cute approximately a 1 quart. It was a very messy process and since I use 2 cans I cannot leave it for a long time it would have overflow and that would make a huge mess. From the mess at the bottom picture, it would turn into this sticky rich amber color (see top picture).

SLOW COOKER DULCE DE LECHE

Adapted from Kitchen Trial and Error

2 tins of condense milk, any brand you like

1. Open two tins of sweetened condensed milk and pour into a slow cooker.
2. On a medium to high setting, stirring occasionally so as not to burn the milk and so that it wouldn't over flow.
3. Cook until it's rich amber color. It took me 2-3 hours to that rich color (See photo 1).
4. Let it cool and store in the fridge until needed.