Cajeta, Mexico’s Caramel
Meet my new love as we head into cooler weather. Readers, cajeta. Cajeta, take a bow.
A sweet, sticky Mexican sauce traditionally made with goat’s milk and a close cousin to dulce de leche, cajeta is easy to make and delicious on almost everything. I made it for a party recently, and drizzled it on small, hand-sized peach pies, then added a small pool of lime crema (Mexican sour cream) for some zing.
You can make it with cow’s milk or goat’s milk, or a combination, but I really love the earthy, tangy flavor that is unmistakably goat underneath the golden notes of caramelized sugar and cinnamon. The goat’s subtle, but it’s there, and this sauce is all the more interesting for it.
Chef and cookbook author Rick Bayless gets a jonesing for cajeta at Mexican street fairs, where he finds stands offering fried plantains. He likes them drizzled with cajeta and thick cream. In one of his cookbooks, Mexico, One Plate at a Time, Bayless suggests swirling some into vanilla ice cream, spooning it on crepes and baking them in the oven, or making rustic little apple tarts, then drizzling with a gentle rain of cajeta.
Locally, you can find cajeta at Super Compare Foods on Silas Creek Parkway (interestingly, I haven’t noticed it at restaurants - perhaps it’s more of a street food?). It’s in the “international” aisle (as if that whole store isn’t a mind-blowing jog through many countries), and it comes in a plastic squeezy bottle like ketchup. I can’t vouch for it, though, because I’m still going through a jar of my own. A little goes a long way, and it’ll last for weeks in the fridge (just warm it up in the microwave before you use it, unless you like it really thick). It may seem like a lot of work, but it’s not. You don’t have to babysit cooking cajeta until the very end.
Update: you can find goat’s milk at Compare Foods, too.
Cajeta, or goat’s milk caramel sauce
Adapted from Mexico, One Plate at a Time by Rick Bayless
Makes about 3 cups
Note: This recipe can easily be halved.
2 quarts goat’s milk or a combination of goat’s milk and cow’s milk, or all cow’s milk (use whole milk in all cases; goat’s milk is available locally at Whole Foods)
2 cups sugar
a 2-inch piece of cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican canela
1/2 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
In a medium-large pot (preferably a Dutch oven), combine the milk, sugar and cinnamon stick and set over medium heat. Stir regularly until the milk comes to a simmer and the sugar is dissolved. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the dissolved baking soda. It will foam up a bit. When the bubbles subside, return the pot to the heat.
Adjust the heat to maintain the mixture at a brisk simmer. Cook, stirring regularly (you don’t have to hover over the pot - give it a stir about once every two or three minutes), until the mixture turns pale golden, about an hour. Now, begin to stir frequently as the mixture turns caramel-brown and thickens to the consistency of maple syrup. The caramel will start to bubble, and the bubbles will become bigger and glassier. Sitr regularly so nothing sticks to the bottom. Test a couple of drops on a cold plate. When cool, the cajeta should be the consistency of a medium-thick caramel sauce. If the cooled cajeta is thicker, stir in a tablespoon of water and remove from the heat. If it’s too runny, keep cooking.
Pour the cajeta into a wide-mouth glass jar or bowl through a mesh strainer. Cool, cover and refrigerate.
