Dulce de Leche ice cream

When I think of caramel, I generally think of the gooey globs and strings from Snickers and Twix candy bars. Because I did not want to put the artificial cloying sweetness of these caramels into my ice creams, I avoided caramel flavors. But that was then...

Dulce de leche ice cream has a sweetness that is complex. The caramelized sugar forms layers of flavors, which taste testers have likened to wine because of its initial, middle, and finishing flavors. It tastes amazing with fresh fruit like farmers' market strawberries.

Dulce de Leche is popular in South America, notably in Argentina and Uruguay. In Chile and Ecuador, it is known as manjar. In Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, it is referred to as manjar blanco or arequipe, depending on regional variations. In Brazil, it is known by its Portuguese name doce de leite.

A Mexican version, called cajeta is made from goat's milk. In the Dominican Republic it is made with equal parts milk and sugar with cinnamon, and the texture is more like fudge. In Puerto Rico dulce de leche is sometimes made with unsweetened coconut milk.

A French version, known as confiture de lait, is very similar to the spreadable forms of dulce de leche. A Norwegian version, Hamar-pålegg ("Hamar spread"), better known as HaPå, is a relatively thick and not so sweet commercial variant.