There are almost as many ways to make dulce de leche as there are people in the world who eat it, or at least it seems this way when you’re trying to summarize them concisely. In addition to the double-boiler method I mentioned yesterday, here are four more methods: in the oven, in the microwave, in a pressure cooker and, of course, from scratch. So, what are waiting for?
Caramel is one of the best uncomplicated flavors out there–just sugar that has been melted then cooked to a rich, nutty shade of brown, and there are few people out there that make it less daunting than David Lebovitz does. Check out his 10 Tips for Making Caramel and How to Make the Perfect Caramel for everything you could ever want to know before draping some over a yellow cake.
After a citrus-fixated January, I thought I’d celebrate the sticky and the gooey in February. How better to start than with World Nutella Day. Nutella, a mass-produced creamy gianduja paste, merges chocolate and hazelnuts into a sum easily greater than their parts. Not so into vanillin and modified palm oil? Natural inspirations abound.
Now that you understand the basic way that yeast works—eating stuff and spitting out air (how human of it, non?)—here are a couple more ingredients to consider: starches, eggs and sugar accelerate the yeast budding process; salt and fats slow it down. You’re now well on your way to being a regular old Harold McGee.
If I could, I would try to convince every single person out there to bake bread, at least once, but first I’ll have to get most of you over you fear of yeast. Let me start with a definition: yeast is a budding microorganism used in baking as a leavening agent, converting sugars to carbon dioxide, or, you know, air bubbles. See? That wasn’t bad! Next we’ll get into controlling its appetite.
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