Dulce De Leche Filling..what Does It Taste Like?
Decorating By sweetcravings Updated 23 May 2009 , 8:18pm by tonimarie
I saw on a food network challenge where a contestent made both devils food cake,vanilla cake and put dulce de leche filling and buttercream as fillings.
It looked very impressive, but what does dulce de leche taste like? Is it butterscotch tasting? Or just caramel?
Also, if i were to make some dulce de leche with the canned sweetened condensed milk and used that to fill my cakes does it need to be refrigerated?
I'm very interested in this, but worry it may be too sweet if paired with a traditional buttercream.
What are your thoughts?
I would say that it's fairly similar to caramel, but it is a taste to it's own... VERY good...
I'd have to see your recipe to know if it would need to be refrigerated, but better safe than sorry, I suppose...
Perhaps only put a thin layer of filling in your cake so as not to overwhelm the other flavors...
There really wasn't a recipe kansaswolf..it's just a can of sweetened condensed milk that you boil for several hours until golden and thickened.
It's in between caramel & butterscotch. It's very sweet too. I would just use a thin spread of it in the cake. I have also tried whipping some heavy cream and adding home made dulce de leche and made a whipped dulce de leche...it's sooooo yummy. I actually prefer it that way.
Remember to boil the can for approximately 45 minutes, then you must let the can cool for about an hour before you open the can, if you refrigerate it would be too hard to spread on the cake as it would get thicker with the boiling.
I usually do this filling on a vanilla cake, maybe two to three layers and I ice the cake with Italian buttercream frosting.
Lomikesa
You can purchase it already made in the Latin section of the supermarket. Saves time and exploding cans! 
Hmmm, i'm starting to think i should've bought it at the grocery store beachcakes. I put a can of the condensed milk in the saucepan with water covering 3/4 of it and i've been watching it like a hawk. I must say i am so nervous about this technique. I keep reading everywhere it could explode. Yikes! Has anyone had a can explode using this method? If so, what happened? I've had it on for around 1hr and 40minutes. I keep reading it should cook for around three so i have a ways to go, if my nerves can take it. I think i have turned it off three times already because i was freaking out with the rattling of the can in the boiling water.
1of5...that's the one i saw the other day. I'm always reluctant to buy products off the shelf because so often they taste bad. Good to know it's tasty. I will definitely buy it to try it. For that price it beats watching a can boil for three hours. ;0)
Does it have to be refrigerated after opening?
I use dulce de leche filling all the time and it always gets rave reviews! I love to pair it with a chocolate cake and vanilla buttercream - very rich and delicious.
If you want to make it yourself and don't want to worry about exploding cans try this: Pour two cans of sweetened condensed milk in a glass pan (I use a 11x7" pan). Cover with aluminum foil. Place in a larger pan (9x13" works great). Pour boiling water in the larger pan until it comes 2/3 of the way up the sides of the smaller pan. Bake at 425 until it turns a medium caramel color - usually about 1 1/2 hours. You may have to add more water to the large pan after about 1 hour. When it is done pour into your mixer and beat for a minute or two until smooth and creamy. It will thicken a little as it cools.
Good luck!
Hmmm, i'm starting to think i should've bought it at the grocery store beachcakes. I put a can of the condensed milk in the saucepan with water covering 3/4 of it and i've been watching it like a hawk. I must say i am so nervous about this technique. I keep reading everywhere it could explode. Yikes! Has anyone had a can explode using this method? If so, what happened? I've had it on for around 1hr and 40minutes. I keep reading it should cook for around three so i have a ways to go, if my nerves can take it. I think i have turned it off three times already because i was freaking out with the rattling of the can in the boiling water.
Hi hope this helps:
Boiled cans of condensed milk is not Dulce de leche at least not where I come from. Boiled cans of sweetened condensed milk is more of a toffee. People seem to boil the cans because it resembles the mass produced dulce de leche flavored stuff that comes in cans already.... Dulce de leche is always and will always be just a Caramel sauce that has been thickened slightly by cooking on low heat an additional 5-10 minutes while stirring lightly as to not incorporate air. To get that butterscotchy flavor you add two tablespoons of light brown sugar ( do not sub dark brown or a lil molasses- not the same) to the following recipe:
3 cups of sugar
2 cups of heavy cream
1 oz of butter
1 tbs. corn syrup
1/4 cup of water
2 tsp of vanilla extract
place sugar, water, and corn syrup in heavy sauce pan stir to combine and with a pastry brush, brush down the sides of the pan to make sure no sugar crystals fall into boiling sugar syrup. Boil to caramel stage remove from heat and carefully add heavy cream and butter. stir until smooth put back on low heat and cook stirring constantly for 5-10 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat add vanilla extract and pour into heat safe bowl. Take a piece of plastic wrap and place right on top of caramel sauce as to avoid a skin from forming place in fridge Until completely cool or over night is best.
Dulce de leche taste best with a very light vanilla flavored cake so that the taste of the caramel shines through. If your not serving kids try brushing your cake with a quality dark rum (this also helps to cut the sweetness of ur cake-very good idea since the caramel is so sweet).
Try this you will not be dissatisfied. 
Stacy
Will Dulce de Leche be ok to be left in room temp for days while I decorate?
No Dulce de Leche is not a filling for a cake that will be ornately decorated ( at least in my opinion)- unless you have your own cake challenge going...lol were the cake will be done in 8 hours or less. Dulce de Leche will ferment no matter which recipe you use. Unless your using the already mass produced Dulce de Leche that comes in a can (presevatives) I dont recommend you keep it at room temperature longer than 2 days.
Strawberry, your recipe sounds delicious! I will have to give it a try sometime.
I'm glad to report that no cans exploded last night. I let it cool overnight and opened it this morning...can you say YUMMY! OMG, i could eat it by the spoon. I mean it's even better than plain sweetened condensed milk. I never thought it could get any better. ;0) I opened it to find that beautiful golden brown goodness. My son loves it too. I had to stop him from dipping into it with a spoon. I can only imagine it will be even better on the cake.
Strawberry, do you think the canned 'dulce' would be fine at room temp? Probably for three days. I have it in a closed container right now, on the counter, not sure if it need to be refrigerated. Pls help/
Beth..that sounds like a more stressfree way of making it. I may just do that next time. I was so happy when the three hours was up and no explosion. My nerves couldn't take much more of it. Thanks.
I've been doing dulce d eleche for a long time, but I boil it for 3 hours... I can't tell you how GOOD it is, besides it gets a nice consistency to fill the cake that won't spill...
a can of condensed milk ALWAYS covered with water... for 3 hours, 1 hour cooling down and VOILA!
Strawberry, do you think the canned 'dulce' would be fine at room temp? Probably for three days. I have it in a closed container right now, on the counter, not sure if it need to be refrigerated. Pls help
Hello Sweet,
I am very glad to hear you had a delicious and safe outcome 
. I am pretty sure it will be ok for 3 days because of the extremely high sugar content of sweetened condensed milk (sugar in itself is a preservative).
Refrigerate until ready to use and let it come to room temperature for easy handling.
Congratulations and happy baking[/quote]
I don't like using sweetened condensed milk, because I think it becomes TOO sickeningly sweet (as with most storebought varieties, in my opinion). I use the french technique to make a similar product (confiture de lait). Take whole milk (in any quantity, depending on how much you need) and sugar equal to half the weight of the milk (so if you weigh out 400 grams of milk, use 200 grams sugar). Bring to a boil and then cook over VERY low heat, stirring often, until the rich caramel color and thick texture is achieved (this can take up to several hours). It will thicken more on cooling. Sometimes i like to add a scraped vanilla bean in at the beginning (pod and all, removing the pod once the milk had come to a boil) for an added level of flavor.
I have a question: When everyone uses dulce de leche as a filling, do you put it directly on the cake, or do you mix it with bc or whipped cream first? I thought the consistancy was like honey, which seems like it would drip and run from between the layers. I LOVE dulce de leche, and am dying to try it! I would prefer to try it plain, but want to hear how it handles first.
I have a question: When everyone uses dulce de leche as a filling, do you put it directly on the cake, or do you mix it with bc or whipped cream first? I thought the consistancy was like honey, which seems like it would drip and run from between the layers. I LOVE dulce de leche, and am dying to try it! I would prefer to try it plain, but want to hear how it handles first.
I am not certain of the consistency of the sweetened condensed milk version but i do know that the recipe I use is thicker than honey however you will definitly need a 1/2 inch dam and leave 1/4 inch of space between the dam and the filling so the weight of the following layers does not make it spill out.
Good luck and happy baking.
Ah! La confiture de lait! Tres delicieuse! Here is a version you can make in your microwave. It's safe, tasty, and done in less than 20 minutes. hee hee http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2008/08/sweetened-conde.html I'm always looking to cut corners, time wise and money wise that is. Voila!
I`ve been doing dulce de leche for long time. (I`m from Brasil and we use do make a lot).
- can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tbsp butter
I put a can of condensed milk in the saucepan w/ butter, cook in low heat (5-10 min.) while stirring lighty. After a turn off the heat I add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and mix.
* flavor
- coconut
- pineaplle
-dice strawberry
*** If wants chocoloate - Add 02 or 03 tbsp chocolate powder and cook as above
I use it as a filling all the time....
Will be ok to be left in room temp. for days!!!
Sorry for my english ( dont write well)
Thanks sooo much everyone for all your help and information. I'm glad it can be left at room temp for several days..always a concern of food safety. The cake will be covered in fondant so i would prefer not to refrigerate it. All these variations to the recipe sound absoluetly divine. I'm definitely going to try them as time permits. It's dangerous having this stuff in the house..i've been eating it by the spoon ever since it was made. So good.
Made a batch in the microwave tonight. Here's how it came out. Sorry if the picture is a bit fuzzy. I'm a lousy photographer! I had some major boil ups and did it for less time than the site instructions for microwaving gave, but the author was right: It comes out delicious with the microwave!
Wow Melee...that looks exactly like the one i cooked for three hours. I am definitely going to try the microwave method for my dulce next week. when you say major boil ups...was it all over the microwave? Just wondering because if that's the case i'm gonna put down some paper towels to make clean up easier.
No, it didn't get all over the microwave. What I mean is every microwave is different, and mine is very different from the author of that article. I started out at 2 minutes at 50% power level, stirred, and did 2 more minutes at 50% power level and stirred. So far just like the article. Then the article says to do 2.5 minute sessions at 50% power level four more times, stirring between each, for a total of 10 minutes. Then it said to do 1 minute sessions after that if needed, stirring after each. During the first 2.5 minute session, it began to foam and rise up and almost made it out of the bowl. I paused, stirred, and started again. I had to do that a couple of times. In the next 2.5 minutes session, same thing--a few stir downs after pausing. I didn't do the last two 2.5 minutes sessions because it was looking close to done. I did one more 1 minute session, stirred, and it was perfect. I lost some of my product because it hit the plastic wrap and stuck to it and I had to replace the wrap four times, losing some of my precious cargo each time. Next time I would leave off the wrap altogether and just watch it carefully and pause the microwave when it gets dangerously close to the top. It immediately stops rising when you cut power. Make sure to use at LEAST a 2.5 quart bowl. Bigger would be better--less stir downs!
Mine came out nice and thick when it cooled--good for spreading. I would cook it less if I wanted to pour it. I have to say, it was absolutely DELICIOUS! Hope this helps!
Thanks for clearing that up. 
Gotta love anything that saves time.
Can I fill a cake and then freeze it? I usually fill, crumb coat and then freeze. Can't wait to try this filling!
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