12/5/11

Graham Crackers, Condensed Milk & Whipped Cream: recreating a childhood dessert

How about a picture of a super cute-two-year old to get you to read the entire post? :)

This is B, my friend Cindy's son, eating a dessert Cindy and I made over the weekend.

And here's the story:

Because my friends know how much I love food, they often call or email me with questions about recipes, ingredients or the best restaurants for a particular occasions. I'm always happy to help!

Last week, Cindy emailed and asked if I'd be willing to help with a few kitchen related projects: one was recreating her dad's  favorite childhood dessert, and the other was CANNING. I'll tell you about canning later. Dessert first.

It's hard to recreate a dessert you've never tasted, especially when you don't have a recipe to rely on. All Cindy knew was that the dessert was made in ice cube trays, had graham crackers on the bottom, then a layer of cooked sweetened condensed milk and was topped with whipped cream and then allowed to freeze.

Oy.

Cindy and I were up to the challenge.

Graham Cracker Dulce de Leche & Whipped Cream Frozen Treats
Ingredients
1 can Eagle Sweetened Condensed Milk (note: the unopened can in the photo below is just a prop)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 packet graham crackers, crushed by hand
4 tablespoons melted butter
Equipment: 2 ice cube trays

Directions
1. Cook an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk in a large pot of simmering water for 3.5 hours. The water should cover the can completely. {Cindy did this a night before and texted me happily to let me know there had been no explosions.}


2. Whip the heavy whipping cream with sugar and set aside.
3. Combine the crushed graham crackers with melted butter and fill the ice cube trays about 1/3 way, slightly pressing the mixture down into the cubes.


4. Open the can of cooked sweetened condensed milk and put it into a Ziploc bag. This will be a mess, so be ready. The good thing, you will have a great time licking all of the cooked condensed milk from your fingers ;)
5. Cut off the corner of the bag and pipe the condensed milk on top of the graham cracker mixture. Miraculously, it was just enough to cover two trays!


6. Add whipped cream to each ice cube container and freeze for at least an hour.


Oh! I forgot to mention that when I came home early Saturday morning (2 am!) after a night of salsa dancing, I had an inkling that I should change the battery in my camera before heading out to Cindy's. Of course, I didn't get to it, and later found out my camera battery was dead. Thus, all of the photographs in this post were taken with Cindy's iPhone.

Here's the result:


The graham cracker bottom did not come out all in one piece from the ice cube tray. First, we tried removing each "cube" with a knife, but that did not work, so we just used a spoon to "scoop" them out. Although they did not look great, they tasted amazing!

If I were to make this dessert again, I'd make it in a springform pan and prebake the graham cracker crust before adding dulce de leche and whipped cream.

Do you have any other suggestions? Please share!

13 comments:

  1. Ok, the comment are showing up now... weird! These look good, and I think you're idea of doing it in a springform would work well. I wonder if it would be easier to pop out of a silicon ice cube tray though? That way you could push up from the bottom instead of trying to dig them out. Or maybe flip the trays over and bang on them to loosen things up, like you would with a pineapple upside down cake?

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  2. Dana SindonaDecember 05, 2011

    My insulin levels spiked just reading this post! Total decadence - though a dangerous combination with two-year-olds ;)

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  3. The dulce de leche is amazing in coffee or hot chocolate topped with the whipped cream. Or just eaten with a finger straight out of the jar.

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  4. I bet spraying the ice cube trays with oil could help to release them. Or quickly dipping the try with finished dessert into hot water.

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  5. DeliciousDishDecember 05, 2011

    Looks kind of like my salted caramel pie. :) I can't believe these are iPhone photos. You must have had really good light!

    How about making it in cupcake papers in a cupcake pan?

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  6. the light was all natural: from a big window! it was lovely, but I deserve some credit too, right? :)

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  7. Heavenly HousewifeDecember 06, 2011

    Okay a few ideas:
    Line with Saran wrap
    Or maybe silicone
    Or maybe spray with a nonstick spray
    Or make in an 8*8 brownie pan with a loose bottom and then cut into individual pieces.
    Either wat, looks like a winner of a dessert.
    *kisses* HH

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  8. DeliciousDishDecember 06, 2011

    You totally deserve the credit!

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  9. OK Give me this and I"ll be a child again... Happy and satisfied....
    Absolutely perfect perfect dessert....
    Love it.

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  10. Idea: along with the butter, why don't you ladies try mixing the crackers with a bit of the condensed milk? I

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  11. What an alternative & easy dessert to make!
    Lovely presented too! ;)

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Thanks for stopping by Mango & Tomato. I love reading your comments and will try my best to respond to any specific questions you might have. Come back soon!