Dulce De Leche Pound Cake

Ever since I saw the Dulce De Leche Cake from A Table of 2 or more, I am curious about the taste of Dulce De Leche (I am so suaku (country bumpkin in dialect - Hokkein) that I have no idea whether I have eaten this before or not :P) and the way Wendy described it and also everyone were raving about it from Technicolor Kitchen (the original contributor) making me wanting to bake this cake.

When I was in Taipei, boss of one of the distributor treated us Haagen Dazs Ice Cream after one of the lunch with him. While I was choosing the flavour of ice cream, I saw Dulce De Leche. Without any hesitation, I got this flavour. I fall in love with it immediately after the 1st spoon of ice cream went into my mouth.


When back in Singapore, I kept thinking about Dulce De Leche. I was wondering which simple and straight forward cake that I can bake with it instead of this cake which I am planning to bake during Father's Day. After much using my brain power, I recalled that I had saw the condensed milk pound cake from All That Matters before and she had good comments on it. Since Dulce De Leche is made from condensed milk so I reckon I can replace condensed milk by using Dulce De Leche.

I remember there are a few cans of condensed milk at home so I went ahead to make it by referring how to make dulce de leche from A Table for 2 or more.


I do not wanna just make one can as the simmering process require 3 hours which very gas and time consuming so I put in 4 cans as what the pot can accommodate and also since I had enough stock at home.


I took around 4 hours instead of 3 hours cos I only found out that my FIL had switched off the gas when I went to check the water level :(. Since I was not sure when did he off it so I just extended the simmering for another hr.

I baked the cake the next day since I need to wait for the Dulce De Leche to completely cool down before I can open the can. After put in the batter to the oven, I went to do my other stuff and didn't check on the cake until I heard the "ting" sound from the oven after an hour of baking. The kitchen was full of the aroma of Dulce De Leche, the smell is so wonderful :). I was so happy until saw a bit charred on the top edge and small area of center of the cake :(. I had overbaked the cake, my oven must be too hot that it took less than the time stated in the recipe to bake the cake. Next time I must remember to always monitor the cake when baking.

How to make Dulce De Leche :
There are a few method according to Wendy's researched as follows :

Method (A)
Milk , sugar, baking soda and maybe some flavourings like vanilla or cinnamon.
1. Traditional simmering
2. Slow Cooker

Method (B)
Opened can of condensed milk:
1. Bake in oven
2. Microwaving
3. Double Boiler

Method (C)
Unopened can of condensed milk.
1. Simmering a can of sweetened condensed milk for 2-3 hours.
2. Pressure Cooker : cook a can of unopened sweetened condensed milk for 30-40 minutes.
3. Simmering in slow cooker/crockpot.

For more information, you may refer to here.

I used the same method as Wendy cos I am more comfortable with this method.

1. Put the can of condensed milk in a pot, on an over turned steaming metal rack.
2. Bring it to a boil and lowered it to a simmer and check frequently to ensure the pot didn't dry up and water level is at least 1.5 inches above the can. Pls take extra note on it cos if the pot dry up, the can will be exploded and the gooey brown Dulce De Leche will be all over the place, it will be a nightmare to clean up the place.
3. Simmered the can for 3 hours.
4. Cool the can completely before open it. Do not attempt to open a hot or warm can!!!!

For Dulce De Leche Pound Cake Recipe modified from All That Matters.

Ingredients : (for 7" cake pan)
180g butter
40g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup dulce de leche

180g flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
*Sift together

3 eggs

Method
1. Grease the cake pan and preheat oven to 170 deg.C.
2. In a bowl, using an electric whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add in salt, vanilla essence and dulce de leche, whisk till incorporated.
3. Stop to add flour. I roughly used the whisk to mix and dampen the flour before turning back on (you don't want the flour to fluff up), whisk using low speed. Scrap down the sides and whisk till the batter is smooth and not lumpy.
4. Add in the eggs, 1 at a time, whisk well.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 170 deg.C for 1 hour.

Verdict?
Due to the overbaking, the cake is a bit dry but still soft and taste good, sweetness is just right for me. The cake is full of the fragrance of Dule De Leche, smell really good. Although the cake is good but I feel that the smell of Dulce De Leche is stronger than it taste so probably I will add more Delce De Leche if I am baking again. This cake is a perfect companion with a cup of hot coffee or hot chocolate.