Tell me when

Dulkitta · Recipes

Eight things to do
with a jar

We are going to start with bread, because that is where everybody in Paraguay starts, and because it is genuinely the best one. The other seven are what happens once the jar is already open. Not sure what this stuff is yet? Start here.

Toast spread thick with dulce de leche and banana slices

Bread. That is the recipe.

5 minServes 1Merienda

Every kid in Paraguay learns this one before they can read. Soft white bread, dulce de leche spread too thick, eaten around five in the afternoon standing next to whoever else is in the kitchen. Do not toast it. Toasting is an American improvement nobody asked for, and the soft bread is half the reason it works.

You need

  • 2 slices of plain white bread, or a piece of baguette
  • 2 tablespoons dulce de leche
  • Flaky salt, if you like the sweetness to land harder

How

  1. Do not toast the bread.
  2. Spread the dulce de leche thicker than feels reasonable, all the way to the crust.
  3. Salt, if you are using it. Eat it before you sit down.
Fresh strawberries beside a bowl of dulce de leche for dipping

Strawberries, dipped

5 minServes 2Dessert

Put this out when people are standing around before dinner and watch how fast the bowl empties. Cold strawberries against warm dulce de leche is the whole trick, and there is nothing else to it. Dry the fruit properly or it will slide right off, which is the only way to get this wrong.

You need

  • 1 pint fresh strawberries, cold, stems on
  • ½ cup dulce de leche

How

  1. Rinse the strawberries and dry them properly.
  2. Spoon the dulce de leche into a shallow bowl. Ten seconds in the microwave if it came out of the fridge.
  3. Hold the stem, dip, eat. Put out more than you think you need.
Stack of pancakes with banana and dulce de leche running down the sides

Pancakes that ruin syrup for you

20 minServes 2Breakfast

Make your pancakes however you already make them. The only change is what goes on top, and it is not a small change: maple syrup soaks in and vanishes, while dulce de leche sits on the surface and slides down the sides slowly. Warm it first or it will tear the top pancake.

You need

  • 6 pancakes, your usual recipe or mix
  • ⅓ cup dulce de leche
  • 1 banana, sliced
  • Butter for the pan

How

  1. Cook the pancakes and stack them while they are hot.
  2. Warm the dulce de leche 15 to 20 seconds, until it pours like thick honey.
  3. Pour it over the top so it runs down the sides. Banana last.
Latte in a glass beside a jar of dulce de leche and a pastry

A spoonful in your coffee

3 minServes 1Drink

This is the one that converts people. It sweetens and creams the cup in a single move, and it tastes like the milk in your coffee decided to become interesting. Dissolve it in a splash of hot coffee first, or you will find the whole spoonful sitting at the bottom of the cup at the end, which is either a disaster or a reward depending on your outlook.

You need

  • 1 cup hot coffee, or a double espresso
  • 1 heaping tablespoon dulce de leche
  • Steamed milk, if you want it long

How

  1. Put the dulce de leche in the bottom of the cup.
  2. Add a splash of hot coffee and stir until it dissolves completely.
  3. Fill with the rest, top with milk if you want it long.
Ice cream in a glass with dulce de leche poured over it

The 30-second sundae

5 minServes 1Dessert

Warm over cold is the entire point, and the window is about ninety seconds wide, so do not make this and then go find a spoon. Keep the ice cream hard. Soft ice cream turns the whole thing into a bowl of sweet soup.

You need

  • 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
  • 2 tablespoons dulce de leche
  • Pinch of flaky salt
  • Toasted peanuts, optional

How

  1. Scoop the ice cream and keep it hard.
  2. Warm the dulce de leche 15 seconds and pour it over while it still moves.
  3. Salt, peanuts, eat standing up.
Banana split with dulce de leche, chopped nuts and a cherry

Banana split, our version

10 minServes 2Dessert

Same banana split you know, except the chocolate sauce is gone and dulce de leche has taken its place. Bananas and dulce de leche are the oldest pairing in the South American kitchen, so this is less a variation than a correction.

You need

  • 1 banana, split lengthwise
  • 2 scoops vanilla ice cream
  • 3 tablespoons dulce de leche
  • Chopped walnuts or peanuts
  • Whipped cream and a cherry, if you are doing it properly

How

  1. Lay the banana halves in a long dish and set the ice cream between them.
  2. Warm the dulce de leche briefly and pour it over everything.
  3. Nuts, cream, cherry. In that order.
Slice of cheesecake with dulce de leche running over the edge

The cheesecake that needs no oven

30 min + 4 h chillServes 8Dessert

Dulce de leche does two jobs here: it sweetens the filling so you can skip most of the sugar, and it goes on top as a glaze that sets slightly and slices cleanly. This is the one that takes an afternoon, and the only difficult part is not eating the half cup reserved for the top.

You need

  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 6 tablespoons melted butter
  • 16 oz cream cheese, softened
  • ¾ cup dulce de leche, plus ½ cup for the top
  • 1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

How

  1. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter, press into a 9-inch springform pan, chill 15 minutes.
  2. Beat the cream cheese with ¾ cup dulce de leche and the vanilla until smooth, then fold in the whipped cream.
  3. Spread over the crust and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
  4. Warm the reserved dulce de leche and spread a thin layer on top just before serving.

Alfajores

1 h~16 cookiesBaking

If you have ever been handed one of these at an airport in South America, this is what you were eating. The cookie itself is mostly cornstarch, which is why it collapses the second it touches your tongue and why it needs something as thick as dulce de leche holding it together. Pull them out of the oven while they still look underdone. Browned alfajores are a different, sadder cookie.

You need

  • 1 cup cornstarch
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ cup butter, softened
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¾ cup dulce de leche
  • Shredded coconut, for rolling

How

  1. Whisk the cornstarch, flour and baking powder. Separately cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the yolks and vanilla.
  2. Bring it together into a soft dough, wrap it, chill 30 minutes.
  3. Roll to ¼ inch, cut 2-inch rounds, bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes. They should stay pale.
  4. Cool completely, then sandwich them with a heavy spoonful of dulce de leche.
  5. Roll the exposed edges in shredded coconut so the filling picks it up.

All of this needs one jar.

Dulkitta is not in American stores yet. Leave your email and we will write once, when it is.

Tell me when it lands