Homemade Vegan Dulce de Leche (GF)
Learn how to make vegan dulce de leche at home. It's creamy, wonderfully caramel-like and needs only one ingredient to make. There are endless options of how you can use it: drizzle it over pancakes, vegan ice cream or caramelised fruits, use it in my vegan Snickers, in Banoffee pie, vegan cheesecakes and many other desserts.
Ingredients
- 1 can (320g) sweetened condensed coconut milk I used Nature's Charm
Instructions
Stovetop method:
- Take one can of sweetened condensed coconut milk of your preferable brand. I love Nature's Charm. Look at it closely to see if there are any dents in the can. If you see a dent, don't use this can. If the can is not damaged in any way, then you can proceed. Remove the label on the can if possible.
- Pour water in a large pot and put a sealed can of sweetened condensed coconut milk inside, so that it lies on its side. The pot should be big enough so that the can is submerged in water and the water level is about 3-5 cm above the can.
- Cover the pot, put it on the stove and heat it over high heat. When it starts to boil, turn it to low and cook it for 6-10 hours (depending on how dark caramel you want; see Notes).
- During cooking check often if the water level is still 3-5 cm above the can and fill it with fresh water so that it stays there at all times. This step is VERY IMPORTANT because the can can explode if the water level drops below the surface of the can. I usually add new water to the pot every hour, bring it to boil again and then put the heat to low. But this will depend on how deep your pot is. To be really safe, check it more often, especially if you're doing this method for the first time.
- After 6-10 hours of cooking turn the heat off, remove the pot from the hot stove, open the lid but don’t take the can out of the water. Leave it there for a couple of hours until it’s completely cooled down. Do not open the hot can because it can explode the content. After the whole pot of water with the can of vegan dulce de leche inside is cooled down, you can take the can out.
- When you open the can, give it a good stir.
Pressure cooker method:
- Take one can of sweetened condensed coconut milk of your preferable brand. I love Nature's Charm. Look at it closely to see if there are any dents in the can. If you see a dent, don't use this can. If the can is not damaged in any way, then you can proceed. Remove the label on the can if possible.
- Put a sealed can of sweetened condensed coconut milk inside the pressure cooker so that it lies on its side and pour water in to the max capacity of the pressure cooker. The pot should be big enough so that the can is submerged in water and the water level is about 3-5 cm above the can.
- Close the pressure cooker, put it on the stove, set it to faster cooking and heat it over high heat. When it starts to boil, turn it to low and cook it for 1-2h (depending on how dark caramel you want; see Notes). In 2h of cooking the water in the pressure cooker that evaporated should be less than 1 cm, so if you filled the pressure cooker with water 3-5 cm above the can, there shouldn't be a problem with water falling too low. It's VERY IMPORTANT for the water to stay a few cm above the can at all times because the can can explode if the water drops below the level of the can.
- After 1-2h of cooking turn the heat off, remove the pressure cooker from the hot stove and wait for the pressure in the pressure cooker to lessen. I like to manually release the pressure in the cooker immediately after cooking so that the can doesn't cook longer than I would like it to. When the pressure cooker allows it, open the lid but don’t take the can out of the water yet. Leave it there for a couple of hours until it’s completely cooled down. Do not open a hot can because it can explode the content. After the whole pressure cooker with water and the can of vegan dulce de leche inside is cooled down, you can take the can out.
- When you open the can, give it a good stir.
Notes
*6 hours of cooking with the stovetop method will produce light caramel, 8 hours medium dark caramel and 10 hours dark caramel. 1h of cooking with the pressure cooker method will produce light caramel, while 2h of cooking produces dark caramel. The consistency of vegan dulce de leche doesn't change in any of these cooking times and methods, it always stays liquid.
*The depth of the caramel that you get after 2h of cooking in the pressure cooker is not the same as the depth of caramel after 10h of cooking with the stovetop method. In the pressure cooker you get a much deeper and in my opinion nicer caramel. I tried to cook a can of sweetened condensed coconut milk with the stovetop method for 12h but it produced a dark caramel with a weird aftertaste that I didn't like.
*Constructed with tips from Pies and Tacos (stovetop method, pressure cooker method).
Nutrition
Serving: 1 servingCalories: 77kcalCarbohydrates: 13gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 14mgSugar: 12g
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