Coffee Dulce de Leche Recipe from the Coffee Window

Recipe: Coffee Dulce de Leche
Yield: Three 6.75-fluid ounce jars

Even though it’s still as hot as can be, the current magazines are all about next season: what clothes to wear, what TV shows to watch, what books to read. At La Colombe, we’ve got our own seasonal predication: come fall, we’ll all be covered in Coffee Dulche de Leche, our caffeine-spiked twist on the classic caramelized cream you will find in every coffee-growing country in Central and South America. Obviously, it’s also a good thing to have on hand during warm weather. But there’s something about the added depth from the coffee that seems like a perfect fit to falls’ earthier dishes like pumpkin bread pudding, spiced pear upside down cake, and nut studded apple pies. Called confiture de lait in French and doce de leite in Portuguese, but no matter what your language, Coffee Dulche de Leche has a world of uses. Some of our favorites for right now, while the weather is still blazing hot:

Sweeten Vietnamese style coffee (no worries about your waistline because your teeth will go first)
Garnish pound cake or brownies
Drizzle over ice cream or grilled fruit or both
Slather between cookies, our favorite being between snickerdoodles, a cinnamon sugar cookie with gooey inside and crisp exterior.

Ingredients
Two 12-ounce cans condensed milk
1 teaspoon fine ground Nizza (granules not liquid)
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
1. Prepare three 6.75 fluid-ounce mason jars: cleaned, dried and fitted with new gaskets.
2. Place ingredients in appropriately sized saucepan and bring to a simmer, all the while whisking the mixture together. Pour evenly into jars.

3. Place the jars (evenly spaced, with room in-between) into a large stock pot on top of a folded kitchen towel or crumpled up aluminum foil, something that will prevent the jars from touching the bottom of the pan while still allowing a layer of temperature-regulating water to exist between the jar and the direct heat.
4. Cover with water by at least an inch and slowly bring to a gentle simmer. Continue to cook until desired color is reached (look for a deep caramel), occasionally adding more water to keep the jars submerged at all times. This will take anywhere form 2 to 3 hours.

5. Remove the jars from the hot water with a canning jar lifter and place on a counter-top at room temperature to cool for several hours (at least 4) without disturbing.

I like to store the jars in the refrigerator so the Dulce is cool and really thick when I spoon it out to use. Because of the long cooking time, the jars will be really, really sealed, practically child proof, and I keep a small set of pliers in the knife drawer to pull out the gasket when opening a new jar.

Vietnamese style coffee sweetened with our coffee dulce de leche