{ dulce de leche }

One of my favorite sweets in the world is leche quemada (burned milk) candy, available at the checkout counter at most mom & pop Tex Mex restaurants where I grew up. It's made from dulce de leche, or "candy of milk." It has such a sweet, distinctly creamy taste that so much reminds me of Friday nights in the summertime and being a bit tipsy on margaritas.

Dulce de leche couldn't be easier to make, especially when made in the crockpot (yes, the crockpot). The most difficult part of the entire process was finding which aisle stocked the mason jars at my local grocery store.

Countless recipes call for dulce de leche, and each is likely worth the time. So having a jar or two on hand is a great plan. An even better plan is sticking a spoon into the dulce de leche jar at 11:30 p.m. when you can't fall asleep ... and are craving something sweet.

Just sayin'.

Dulce de Leche
Ingredients

• 3 14-oz cans sweetened condensed milk.

(yep! that's it!)

Process
Open cans of condensed milk and pour each into a pint-sized glass mason jar.

Secure the lid of each jar and place in the crockpot.

Fill the crockpot with water to just above the point at the jars where the cream is topped. Place the lid on the crockpot.

Heat milk jars on low for 8-10 hours (the longer the cooking process, the more solid the dulce de leche) -- I actually cooked mine overnight.


Once process is complete, the consistency will be thick. In order to thin the dulce de leche to use as a dip or sauce, spoon into a dish and add milk or cream. Slowly heat (the microwave works just fine) and whisk until desired consistency is reached.