Cajeta

Cajeta is a wonderful Mexican sweet sauce. It is a delicious concoction of goat milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. So smooth and sweet I want to eat it by the spoonful! (But I don't :o) It is traditionally made with goat milk, although you can use cow milk. I'm not sure how the cow milk will taste since we have only made it with goat milk. As we often do, we use what we have from our farm.

Since Vet2Be's big brother is on a mission in Mexico on a mission right now, Vet2Be likes to try different things from Mexico. Of course we would try Cajeta because it is traditionally made with goat milk!

Here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients
• 2 quarts of fresh goat's milk
• 2 cups white sugar (although we have also used 1 cup honey and 1 cup sugar)
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon mixed with the sugar)
• 1 stick vanilla or 1 teaspoon of Mexican vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

Directions

• Stir together the milk and sugar in a heavy pot. The Cajeta will foam at one point, so make sure the pot holds at least twice as much as the recipe calls for. Add the cinnamon stick and the vanilla bean. Bring mixture to a gentle boil on medium heat while stirring constantly. Be careful not to scorch the milk. This may take 15 minutes.

• Remove from heat when the milk just starts to boil. Add the baking soda. The mixture will bubble and get foamy, keep stirring! When it stops foaming, you can put it back on the heat. It may foam a bit more, just be careful that it doesn't overflow the pot.
  
• Simmer the mixture just under a boil until it starts to turn golden brown and thicken. This will probably take another 45 minutes to an hour. Keep stirring! If you need to leave for a moment, turn the heat down (or remove the pot from the heat source) until you get back so you don't scorch the mixture.
• When the milk mixture starts to turn a golden brown, remove the cinnamon stick. (If you used a vanilla bean, take that out now, too) Watch it very closely because it will start to thicken quickly and has a tendency to scorch.

• Keep stirring (your arm should be tired by now unless you've had your kids helping to stir!) When the cajeta is a rich brown and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon it is ready. Add the vanilla. Cook until it reaches softball stage, about 230 F- 240 F (at sea level).

• Pour into a glass jar and cool. When it is cool enough, store it in the refrigerator.
  

On the left is the amount of milk I started with, on the right is the amount of Cajeta the recipe makes.

Two quarts of goat's milk makes a little more than a pint of Cajeta. This batch took me almost 2 hours to make from start to finish.

Serve Cajeta over ice cream, on toast, as an apple dip, or anything you would use caramel sauce for. Yum!