A Mexican Delight - Cajeta

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Life outside of the beautiful California is an interesting adjustment. I'm in a new country (Germany), learning to speak a new language (German), and adjusting to a new life style. While there are many things I enjoy here in Germany and in Europe, I must say, I miss my Mexican food!

Luckily, I have a Mexican coworker (also an expat here), and I managed to nag him into learning how to make mole when he visited home over the holidays. Last week, he hosted a mole cooking demonstration (again, at my subtle nudging). To complete the Mexican theme, I volunteered to bring some Mexican dessert and decided to make the Chocoflan (that is another topic…very interesting dessert). However, to make the Chocoflan, cajeta is needed.

It seems like cajeta is not as well known as its cousin, dolce de leche. Whenever I tell people that I'm making cajeta, I have to launch a food-education program and explain the difference between cajeta, dulce de leche, and condensed milk. To me, cajeta probably has the most interesting flavor from the addition of cinnamon, but that also makes it rather hard to find outside of its home country. Actually, I had to make my own even when I was living in Los Angeles (I'm sure I probably would have been able to find it in Mexican supermarkets, but I was lazy, I only shop at mainstream chains). But it's really not that hard, it just takes time…and A LOT of stirring…and some careful overflow control (read: stand next to the pot and watch it like a hawk).

The recipe is from Rick Bayless. It's pretty straight forward, though I reduced the amount of sugar used.  So far I've made it twice, once with 50/50 regular milk/goat's milk, and this time 100% goat's milk. Both tasted really amazing, a light amber colored sugary paradise, though personally I prefer the goat's milk version. It's a bit more interesting, since goat's milk has more of a character than regular milk. So in that sense, I'd recommend avoid using only regular whole milk, then it's not as plain.

Nevertheless, you should try this!


Cajeta
Adapted from Rick Bayless
Yield: 3 Cup

Ingredient

  • 2 L of goat's milk (combination of goat's milk and regular whole milk works as well)
  • 1 1/3 cup of sugar
  • 1 2inch cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbsp water
  1. Use a heavy-bottom pot (~6 quart/L), preferably a Dutch oven for this recipe. It's especially important to use a large pot if you choose to go 100% goat's milk, since it'll foam and it's not fun to clean up boiled over milk (yes, it happened to me, in case you're wondering….)
  2. Combine the milk, sugar, and cinnamon stick and set over medium heat. Stir regularly until the milk comes to a simmer. Remove the pot from heat, let it COOL slightly, and stir in the dissolved baking soda. It'll FOAM if you use goat's milk, since it's acidic. When the bubbles subside, return the pot to heat. (This actually gets rid of a lot of the tangy fast of goat's milk. Quite some of my friends who claim to not like goat's milk liked the cajeta)
  3. Keep the mixture cooking at a brisk simmer, basically striving for a good balance between the danger of boiling over and forever cooking time. Stir regularly, so that the bottom of the pot is not burnt. The mixture should start turning pale golden, in about an hour.
  4. Cook until the mixture turns caramel-brown, and has the consistency of maple syrup. To tell whether the mixture is done cooking, test a few drops on a cold plate: When cooled, it should have a consistency of condense milk. If it gets too thick, think it out with a little bit of water (1 Tablespoon at a time); if it's too runny, keep cooking. Since it's mostly a sauce, so cooking it to the consistency that you like is most important. It doesn't need to be exactly like the recipe calls for.
  5. Store finished cajeta in air-tight container in the fridge. It keeps for about 1 month (although, I'm quite sure it'd be gone way before that)


Cajeta has many uses: on pancake, on shaved ice, in cakes (more on that some other time), on crepes….everywhere…it's amazing on fruits too. So, give it a try. It's really simple, you just need to have some time!

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