Working Girl Cooks!

Okay so technically this isn't "cooking" with apples, but this dip is so good with apple slices that I had to include it. Arequipe is colombian style caramel, very similar to Mexican style dulce de leche. When I was little my mom would make us arequipe and we would eat it by the spoonful. So rich and creamy it was sooo good. I would eat it slowly, licking just the top layer off my spoon, wanting it to last forever, careful not to waist any moment of it. My mom always made arequipe by simply boiling a can of condensed milk for several hours. The result was a rich, creamy caramel like no other I have ever tasted. I decided, however, to try to make my arequipe the old fashioned way, from scratch! I came accross Andrea's recipe online and had to try it.

It's a very simple recipe. All you have to do is heat up 2 quarts of milk, about 3 cups of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda. Bring to a boil slowly so you don't burn it, then stir...

...keep stirring. It becomes a golden brown color and becomes thick and gooey....keep stirring...

Eventually it becomes so thick it starts to pull away from the sides of the pot when you stir....keep stirring..

about four hours later you have arequipe! I know, that's A LOT of stirring! And in the end, this arequipe wasn't as rich and creamy and decadent as the one my mom used to make. In a way, I like that this one isn't as sweet, but I have a hard time associating this with the arequipe my mom used to make, it tastes different. It's good...really really good....but not home. I'm not sure which one I like better. If you want to try to make some at home, but don't have four hours in your day to spend stirring, try boiling a can of condensed milk for about 3 hours then dip a slice of apple in it....you'll never think of apples with caramel the same ever again!