"DULCE DE LECHE" or Milk Caramel is a traditional sweet spread in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and other parts of South America. It is also popular in Central America and Mexico, where it is known as "cajeta", and in Colombia and Venezuela, where it is known as "arequipe". The name literally means "milk candy" in Spanish.
Its most basic recipe mixes milk and sugar, boiled down for several hours until it reaches a thick consistency. Dulce de leche may also be prepared with sweetened condensed milk cooked for several hours.
Dulce de leche is used to flavor cakes, cookies, "alfajores" or ice cream, as well as flan. It is also popular spread on toast.
Recently, dulce de leche has become extremely popular in the United States as a result of the 1997 introduction by Häagen-Dazs of the ice cream flavor by the same name.
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