Cajeta with Ben Guyton from Austin, Texas

Great Gift Idea for Upcoming Holidays

If you've never tasted cajeta, you're in for a real treat.  It is THE BEST.  Just tie a few ribbons around a canning jar of cajeta and you have the ultimate present for any occasion.

Ben picking agarita berries for his agarita jelly

My Guest Blogger (with the best hat ever!)

Ben Guyton has access to all the goat's milk he could possibly want and he makes good use of it.  I found his post about cajeta at his blog, Hammer on Rye.

I asked him where he got his goat's milk and he wrote:

I live and work on Pure Luck Farm and Dairy, a farmstead goat dairy in Dripping Springs, Texas, that produces award winning goat cheeses.  

When I am not running around the farm taking care of the goats, delivering cheese, working a farmers' market, cutting herbs, milking goats, feeding pigs, collecting eggs, or... well anything else that might need doing, I like to cook interesting things in the kitchen.  

With a background in computer programming and a degree in photography, it made sense to share my creations online.  This is how Hammer on Rye was born.

Pure Luck has won many ribbons at the American Cheese Society Competitions.

Cajeta Making – 101 Goat Milk Caramel Made Easy.
By Ben Guyton at Hammer on Rye 

If you want the best dessert topping in the world…. you HAVE to make cajeta.  Dessert topping, flavoring for your coffee, a spoonful for your mouth…whatever you decide to do with it, it’s worth the time.  Cajeta is basically a dulce de leche or caramel made from goat’s milk and sugar.  The milk is heated until the sauce thickens, browns, and gets super tasty for your mouth.  I have made plenty of cajeta, but since I got back from Mexico in February, I have been making it in a copper pot, also known as a cazo de cobre.  It is a traditional way to make cajeta, and really helps to speed the process because of the excellent conduction and distribution of heat.  If you don’t have a copper pot, you can use a heavy pot as long as it’s not cast iron.

On to the recipe…  First thing’s first… you need some goat milk.  Lucky me, I live on a goat dairy.  For my recipe, I used a gallon of milk.  It condensed down to about two and a half pints.  Here’s all the ingredients you will need:

    1 gallon goat milk
    4 cups of sugar
    1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
    1/2 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a tiny bit of tepid water

Pour your milk into your pot and add the sugar and vanilla.  Turn the heat on medium and stir it all up.

Heat the milk to a nice simmer… stir frequently.  Add the baking soda and water mixture.  You may want to take the pot off the heat because it will bubble up when you put in the baking soda.  I just add it very slowly and it doesn’t foam up too much.

Keep simmering… and stirring…

Slowly, the milk will start to evaporate and the sauce will begin to thicken.

Keep stirring often.

When it is as thick and dark as you like it, remove it from the heat.  I have found that I like mine very thick and very brown.  If you want your sauce to be thinner… stop sooner.  Thicker?  Stop later.  Just don’t let it burn… and keep stirring.

It’s all a matter of your taste.

When it’s done, pour it into a heat safe pitcher (or straight into heated jars).  Then pour into some canning jars and store in your fridge.  I like to take a part of each batch and mix it with some nice bourbon.

This photo is from a previous batch that was thinner and lighter. Half of the batch we mixed with some Eagle Rare, a very tasty bourbon. (We didn’t use the whole bottle in the cajeta… really)  Enjoy!


Print This:


Cajeta made from goat's milk

Prep time: 2 mins
Cook time: 2 hours
Total time: 2 hours 2 mins
 
Ingredients:

    1 gallon goat milk
    4 cups sugar
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda mixed with a bit of tepid water

Instructions:

    Mix the milk, sugar, and vanilla in a heavy non-cast iron pot.
    Heat on medium to a simmer, stirring frequently.
    Add the baking soda *SLOWLY* while stirring.
    Keep heating and stirring frequently until the cajeta is the color and consistency you want.
    Mix with some bourbon (or something else) if you want.
    Pour into canning jars.
    Keep in refrigerator.