my seasonal table: Dulce de leche (cheats version)

Dulce de Leche literally translates to 'sweet of milk', and it is a delicious caramel that must be tasted to be believed. I have been wanting to write a post about this beautiful sweet gooey stuff for ages, but unfortunately my husband has a huge sweet tooth, so every time I would buy some condensed milk in order to make it, he would open it and start eating it from the can. But recently, as I flick through my foodie mags I have seen a lot of recipes that call for Dulce de Leche, a product which apparently can be found in speciality stores, pfft I say pfft.
In Chile we call it 'Manjar' and it is included in many of our insanely sweet pastries and desserts, although it is very popular throughout Latin America. Dulce de Leche can also be used in cakes, biscuits, bonoffee pie, on toast, or my very favourite way-with a spoon straight out of the can, needless to say I was a chubby child. Traditionalists will have you believe that you are required to heat milk and sugar and stir until the milk reduces and the sugar caramelises. This takes ages, and since I have better things to do with my time e.g: laughing at my daughter's attempts to put on her shoes or dance(that kid is so uncoordinated), I will give you the cheats version. The version that has been used in my household since I can remember.

Ingredients

-can of condensed milk

Method
-Place the can of condensed milk in a large pot and fill with water.
-Boil water and ignore for 2-3 hours.

-The longer you boil it the thicker and more caramel-y the condensed milk becomes.

WARNING

Do not under any circumstance let the water fall below can level as this will cause the can to overheat and explode, as my brother discovered much to my amusement. Months later he was still finding sticky caramel in odd places, mainly behind the fridge. If the water level starts to drop then immediately top up.

-Leave the can to cool before you open it