Manjar is a stiff milk caramel made from sweetened condensed milk that is wildly popular in Central and South America.  Versions of Manjar can be found all over the world, a softer variety called Dulce de Leche was made popular as an Argentine caramel, Cajeta in Mexico (often made with goat’s milk), or Doce de Leite in Portugal. For Americans, the most common version of this milk caramel is in candy form, such as Sugar Daddys or Sugar Babies.  While many people will consider Manjar and Dulce de Leche to have no difference besides semantics, Chileans will fiercely defend the difference in flavor and texture. I have fond memories of watching my grandfather sneak into the kitchen before dinnertime where he would steal little sips of Manjar while my grandmother was occupied preparing food for the family. When visiting friends and family in Chile, I was told over and over that Manjar is a far superior product to Dulce de Leche, but to me they are simply different, a preference for texture or chosen for use.  Manjar is extremely thick when cool, sometimes sliceable and sold in bricks. While Dulce de Leche is soft, spreadable, and gooey.  The caramel flavor of Manjar is dusty and intense with a slight hint of bitterness, much more complex, while Dulce de Leche is soft and bright, incredibly sweet and oddly comforting.  Manjar is excellent for eating with slices of cake or toast, or as a cookie sandwich filling, while Dulce de Leche can make an excellent topping for ice cream or a replacement for frosting. But really, if you grew up in my family, or likely any Latino family, you used it for everything. Always looking for an excuse to make another can, always searching for something you could use as a vehicle for the syrupy goodness. Bananas, toast, cake, cookies, brownies, crepes, pancakes, you name it.

Years ago while traveling in South America, I saw that Dulce de Leche was sold in flavors, most commonly chocolate or cinnamon.  Having made Manjar and Dulce de Leche since I was a kid, it occurred to me I might as well make my own flavors as well.  Below are two of my favorites, Chocolate Orange Manjar, and Meyer Lemon Manjar.  If you don’t have Meyer Lemons, feel free to substitute whatever lemon (or lime) you like.

Equipment:

• Large pot
• Clean canning jars (2 8oz or equivalent per recipe)
• Canning tongs (optional)
• Canning rack (optional)
• Microplaner or other zester

A note on equipment:

There are two pieces of equipment in this list that I want to strongly recommend: the canning tongs and the microplaner. It’s not very often that I feel like I can’t live without a kitchen accessory – I’m a firm believer in cheap cobbled together equipment. But these are two extraordinary devices.  The canning tongs are rounded tongs coated with rubber meant for pulling jars out of boiling water.  I use them every time I can anything, and if you plan on making jams, jellies, pickles, or Manjar (even if you will only do it once or twice a year) it is absolutely worth investing in a pair. They are cheap, and you can usually find them any place you can find jars, and certainly any decent hardware store.  The microplaner might be a little more difficult to find, but it is amazing and worth the effort.  It creates incredibly fine, delicate zest, as well as perfect, fluffy, soft parmesan, chocolate flakes, garlic, fresh cinnamon or nutmeg.  It is incredibly versatile, and something I use almost daily.

Ingredients for Meyer Lemon Manjar:

• 2 large Meyer Lemons
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk.

Method:

One of the nice things about making Manjar is that you don’t need to be super exact, so don’t stress out too much about the time or the amounts, it will all work out in the end.

• Zest the lemons (you should have about 1 Tablespoon) and place the zest a small saucepan with ½ cup of sugar. Juice the lemons (you should have ¼ cup of juice) and add to the saucepan
• Cook on low to medium heat until the sugar has completely dissolved
• In the meantime, open the can of sweetened condensed milk and pour into a medium mixing bowl
• When the sugar is dissolved, add to the sweetened condensed milk and stir well.  The acidity from the lemons will make milk thicken, but don’t despair! It won’t curdle, and it will still have an excellent texture after cooking it.
• Pour into jars, seal firmly and place in a pot with a cake rack, canning rack, or cloth towel on the bottom.  Cover with cool water and simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours.
• Remove the jars with canning tongs and allow to cool.  If you don’t have canning tongs, pour some of the water out and allow to cool until you reach in without burning yourself.  Manjar will keep unopened almost indefinitely.

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1. zesting
2. zested lemons
3. saucepan
4. dissolving the sugar
5. mixing
6. filling the jars
7. compare

Ingredients for Chocolate Orange Manjar:

2 oranges

1 vanilla bean

¼ cup of brewed coffee

½ cup sugar

1 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Method:

• Start by zesting the oranges and adding it to a small saucepan with ¼ cup of brewed coffee and ½ cup of sugar. Cook on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and add it to a medium mixing bowl.
• Cut off 1 oz of unsweetened chocolate and cut it into small pieces.  You don’t need to weigh it, just eyeball it based on the size of the chocolate bar (most chocolate bars are 4 to 10 oz, it will say on the wrapper).
• Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out with the back of the knife or a spoon.  The inside of the bean is what you will use, discard or save the rest for another project (you can use the bean pod to infuse a variety of things, including coffee and hot chocolate!)
• In the same saucepan add the chocolate, vanilla and about half the can of sweetened condensed milk, add the rest of the milk to the mixing bowl.
• On low heat melt the chocolate into the milk, stirring constantly with fork.  When it is well melted scrape it into the mixing bowl and mix well. It will be much runnier than Meyer Lemon Manjar, don’t worry, it will thicken up when you cook it.
• Pour the mixture into the jars, screw the lids on firmly and place them in a stock pot on top of a canning rack, cake rack, or cloth towel. Simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours.
• Remove the jars with canning tongs and allow to cool.  If you don’t have canning tongs, pour some of the water out and allow to cool until you reach in without burning yourself.  Manjar will keep unopened almost indefinitely.

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1. 1 oz of chocolate
2. preparing the vanilla bean 01
3. preparing the vanilla bean 02
4. prepared vanilla bean
5. preparing the chocolate 01
6. preparing the chocolate 02
7. preparing the chocolate 03
8. mixing in the chocolate
9. mixed in chocolate

Photographs by Rosey Lakos at roseylakosphotography.com.