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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Dulce de Leche Paletas

Dulce de Leche Paletas with Cinnamon and Vanilla Beans
This month for she made, ella hace, Leslie and I are sharing PALETAS aka my absolute favorite way to kick-off summer! It is about this time every year that I announce The Summer of the Popsicle, but this year I'm running behind. I'm still hoping to bring it back this year, but no definite plans yet.

And yet, this is already the second ice pop recipe that I've shared this month (the first being my Strawberry Pink Moscato Ice Pops). The popsicle making itself hasn't slowed down.

Speaking of popsicle making, my good friend and she made, ella hace partner-in-crime, Leslie told me that she and the kids made like FIVE types of paletas over the past weekend. It's really no wonder that I dig this chick so much.

Dulce de Leche Paletas with Cinnamon and Vanilla Beans
Today, I decided to go a bit decadent with these creamy, dulce de leche-laced pops. I say decadent, because they are flecked with sexy little vanilla bean seeds and tinged with the heady aroma of Mexican canela. Plus - dulce de leche!

You can use storebought, homemade, or sorta-homemade (like I did) dulce de leche in this recipe; they'll turn out equally wonderful either way. By "sorta-homemade", I mean turning canned sweetened condensed milk into dulce de leche. That's it...the only ingredient. I almost always have a few cans of sweetened condensed milk in the pantry, so that was my best (and ridiculously easy) option.

Speaking of decadent, I think that Leslie's Cajeta-Pecan Paletas sound pretty darn amazing - don't you!? I think you deserve a paleta for each hand, and ours would go perfectly together.

Dulce de Leche Paletas with Cinnamon and Vanilla
Creamy ice pops infused flavored with dulce de leche, vanilla beans, and cinnamon.
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Dulce de Leche Paletas
by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez
Prep Time: 15 minutes + time to freeze
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Keywords: dessert snack vegetarian soy-free nut-free frozen popsicles summer

Ingredients (8-12 paletas)
  • 1 (3-inch) stick of canela (or regular cinnamon stick)
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • big pinch of sea salt
  • big pinch of ground cinnamon
  • 2/3 cup Dulce de Leche (storebought or homemade)
Instructions
Set a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick and toast for a few minutes, until if smells fragrant.

Carefully pour in the milk, cream and brown sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean; add the seeds and the pod to the pan. Toss in the salt and ground cinnamon. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat.

Stir in the dulce de leche until the mixture is smooth. Set aside and allow to cool completely. Remove the vanilla bean pod and the cinnamon stick.

Pour the mixture into your popsicle molds. Slide into the freezer and freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid, adding the popsicle sticks once they mixture has frozen enough to hold them up (approx 90-120 minutes).
Make Dulce de Leche simply using Sweetened Condensed Milk
To make Dulce de Leche from Sweetened Condensed Milk:
Preheat oven to 425°F. Pour 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk into a 9-inch cake pan. Cover tightly with foil. Set the pan into a larger pan and fill that larger pan with hot water 2/3 of the way up the side of the cake pan.

Carefully slide into preheated oven and bake for 75-90 minutes, adding more water as needed so that it doesn't evaporate entirely.

Remove from oven. The mixture should now look like a thick dulce de leche; whisk it until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge once cooled.

-paletas inspired by and adapted from 200 Best Ice Pop Recipes
Dulce de Leche Paletas with Cinnamon and Vanilla Beans
What happens when two American girls who are both married to Mexican guys find out that although one of them lives in the U.S. and one of them lives in Mexico, they both love eating the same food?  Well, naturally they decide to get "together" the only way they can and cook up the same dishes.  Or perhaps take the same ingredients and talking about them in their own voice or using them in their own way.

Leslie and I have teamed up to occasionally cook/bake/make a our own versions of the same food.  We want to see how similar (or how different) they turn out.  Other times we will pick an ingredient and use it however we choose...or maybe just talk about it.  Good food knows no borders and we hope to share the food we love with you.  It's not a competition, it's a showcase.  We will post on the same day as each other and would love to hear your thoughts on what we've made and how you make it. 

Join me (here at All Roads Lead to the Kitchen) and Leslie in her kitchen (at La Cocina de Leslie) for some delicious food.

equipment you might find useful for making these paletas: