Walgreen's has Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk on sale this week for $1.79 (with their in-ad coupon). Depending on how many you buy, you can use the coupon for $2 off of the purchase of 2 cans or the 55 cents off the purchase of one can that should be in tomorrow's Red Plum coupon insert. That means you can get the Sweetened Condensed Milk for as low as 79 cents per can after coupons!
Alright, so you're not a baker, and you want to know what to do with two cans of sweetened condensed milk? Well, how about homemade dulce de leche, or caramel sauce?
The SAFE ways, according to Nestle, are as follows...
To Caramelize sweetened condensed milk:
Oven method- Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk into 9 inch pie plate. Cover with foil; place in larger shallow pan. Fill larger pan with hot water. Bake at 425 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until thick and caramel colored. Beat until smooth.
Stovetop Method- Pour 1 can condensed milk into top of double boiler; place over boiling water. Over low heat, simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until thick and caramel colored. Beat until smooth.
Microwave Method- Pour 1 can condensed milk into 2 quart glass measure. cook on 50 % power (medium) for 4 minutes, stirring briskly every 2 minutes until smooth. cook on 30% power (medium-low) 12-18 minutes ot until very thick and caramel colored, stirring briskly every 2 minutes until smooth.
Of course, many people remember their moms or grandmums making this caramel sauce, or more appropriately dulce de leche, a different way...right in the can! Now, I will not be responsible for damage to your kitchen, your body, or anything else if you choose to follow information shared in the rest of this post...
OLD FASHIONED DIRECTIONS :
1. Remove the label from the can of Sweetened condensed milk. Immerse closed/sealed can on its side in a pot of boiling water. MAKE SURE THE CAN IS FULLY COVERED WITH WATER! If you're doing all this work for one can, you might as well toss several more in there too!
2. Leave on a simmer or light boil for 2 hours topping off with water as needed. Be careful and don’t let the water dry out or go below the level of the can.
3. Remove from heat and let cool thoroughly before opening can. The Sweetened Condensed Milk should be thick and a nice caramel color. If you continue to cook it longer, it will thicken in consistency, and be more like soft, melted texture at 3 hours. If it's not as thick or carmelized as you want when you do open the can, you could always use one of the methods above (stovetop or microwave) to finish carmelizing the sweetened condensed milk. Now, your mileage may vary, particularly with different altitudes, so, PLEASE BE CAREFUL if you try this method!
4. If done this way, the caramel sauce should last as long as the original date on the can, since it is still sealed from the factory.
