dulce de leche

noun

dul·​ce de leche ˈdəl-(ˌ)sā-də-ˈle-ˌchā 

ˈdül-

: sweetened caramelized milk that is traditionally made by reducing a mixture of milk and sugar over heat

Pastry chefs are obsessed with dulce de leche, the luscious, milky South American caramel.

—Food & Wine

… the three distinct textures—cakey brownie, gooey dulce de leche and semi-firm ganache—worked in a tasty little harmony.

—Gregory Furgala

To make a good dulce de leche—a gradual reduction of milk and sugar and bicarbonate of soda—is a time consuming and laborious process …

—Joe McNamee

Dulce de leche is a luscious topping made by slowly caramelizing sweetened milk. Many people make it by boiling a can of condensed milk unopened in a pot of simmering water …

—Stephanie Eddy

—often used before another noun

… astonishingly rich dulce de leche cheesecake with spiced caramel popcorn.

—John Mariani

Examples of dulce de leche in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

No Argentine accord is complete without yerba buena tea—maté is their love language, after all—and a smoky, creamy finish tethers gaucho-like leather to dulce de leche. —Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 29 Oct. 2024

Get your whole churros with soft-serve and dulce de leche. —Mike Sutter, San Antonio Express-News, 2 Oct. 2024

The signature Beam nutty grain flavor is present, but it’s softened with layers of milk and dark chocolate, espresso bean, dulce de leche, fig, and a backbone of smoky oak. —Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 22 Sep. 2024

And who can go wrong with either the chocolate cake served with blackberry ice cream or pineapple upside-down cake partnered with dulce de leche ice cream? —Georgann Yara, The Arizona Republic, 19 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from American Spanish, from Spanish dulce "sweet food, dessert" (noun derivative of dulce, adjective, "sweet," going back to Latin dulcis) + de "of, from" (going back to Latin dē) + leche "milk," going back to Latin lact-, lac — more at dulcet, de-, galaxy

First Known Use

1900, in the meaning defined above