A thick, glossy caramel made by slowly cooking sweetened milk until it turns deep amber and spreadable. It is Chile's beloved dulce de leche, slathered on bread, filling pastries and stuffing cakes.
Chileans proudly claim the invention of dulce de leche, with a popular legend tracing it to a forgotten pot of sweetened milk left simmering during a nineteenth-century truce between rival leaders. Whatever its true birthplace, manjar became a fixture of Chilean baking and is the heart of countless desserts from alfajores to brazo de reina.
Silky and intensely sweet, it tastes of toasted milk and burnt-sugar caramel that clings to the spoon. A little goes a long way, melting into anything it touches.
Slow heating drives the Maillard reaction and caramelization between milk proteins and sugar, deepening color and flavor while evaporation thickens it to a spreadable paste.
Variations
can-boiling method, stovetop from fresh milk, manjar blanco lighter version, used in alfajores and cakes
On the Palate
Where Manjar sits in the Chilean flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
8 steps · 5 min
- 13 min
Pour sweetened condensed milk or fresh milk with sugar into a heavy pot.
- 21 min
Add a vanilla pod or a pinch of baking soda to help it brown evenly.
- 32 min
Heat gently and stir constantly to prevent scorching.
Watch outStir constantly over gentle heat — manjar scorches on the bottom in a blink, and a burnt note taints the whole pot.
- 460 min
Keep the mixture at a low simmer, stirring as it slowly thickens.
- 540 min
Continue cooking until it turns a deep amber caramel color.
Watch outCook until it deepens to a rich amber caramel — the color is the doneness cue for the Maillard flavor.
- 62 min
Test consistency by dragging a spoon across the bottom to see it hold a line.
Watch outDrag a spoon across the bottom — when the trail holds open for a moment before closing, it's thick enough; it firms more as it cools.
- 7120 min
Remove from heat and let it cool, where it will thicken further.
- 82 min
Store in a jar and use as a spread or filling.
