Recipe: Cajeta (Caramel Syrup)

Cajeta

Makes 2-1/2 cups

Cajeta Cajeta ("Kah-HEH-tah") is one of Mexico's best-loved sweets—a golden caramel syrup made from sugar and milk. Making your own cajeta is a real experience—you get to watch everyday ingredients transform into something entirely different and incredibly tasty. And once you make it, you'll find a billion ways to use it, just like we do.

1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
Cajeta Sauce
1 quart vanilla ice cream

To toast the coconut:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Toast for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool.

To serve:
Drizzle some of the sauce onto 6 dessert plates. Scoop 6 balls of ice cream, roll each in the coconut, and place over the sauce. Finish with a spoonful of the sauce over each scoop.

Cajeta Sauce

1 quart milk
Pinch of baking soda
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

To make the sauce:
Place the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the baking soda, and heat until almost boiling. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the saucepan and stir until dissolved. Put the remaining 1 cup of sugar in a skillet over low heat and melt slowly stirring continuously until the sugar is amber colored. (If the sugar is not browned enough, the flavor of the sauce will not be full and rich. If browned too much, it will turn bitter.) When the milk is boiling, add the caramelized sugar slowly stirring continuously with a whisk. In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water stirring until completely smooth. Gradually stir the cornstarch mixture into the boiling milk. Continue to cook over low heat, at a slow rolling boil, until the mixture thickens, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

Buy the Book!

Chevys & Rio Bravo™
Fresh Mex® Cookbook
By Chevys Inc.™
Ten Speed Press, May 2000
Cloth, $14.95
128 pages, full color
ISBN: 1-58008-191-6
Recipe reprinted by permission.