This Cajeta is liquid gold. It is thick, sweet and caramelly. It is great over ice cream, pound cake, as a dip for apples or on a spoon! Make it with goat’s milk for the full flavor, but you can also make it with cow’s milk if that is what you have.

two jars of golden goat's milk cajeta with a drip running down the side of the front jar.

Cajeta is really simple to make at home. With just a few ingredients and a little bit of time you can turn milk into something magnificent!

I will share the process with you along with some background on why you use the secret ingredients. Once you have a batch made you will see how easy it is and make it to go on top of everything you eat from here on out!

We are so lucky to have such great parents and even luckier that they are all relatively close to us. We are even luckier yet that a couple of them have homesteads that produce delicious food… and sometimes they share!

While we produce a fair amount of our own food during the summer, ours is all of the plant variety. MiMi, Pops, Grandpa and Ms. Lisa also raise food.

Enameled dutch oven filled with goats milk, sugar, and a cinnamon stick with a wood spoon, ready to be cooked down.

Enameled cast iron pot with partially caramelized goat's milk and a cinnamon stick inside.

You know the kind that has feathers or fur or little bumblebee wings. That means we get the occasional overflow. Let me tell you that overflow is delicious!

We are most likely to receive farm fresh eggs. We are always happy recipients of eggs as we really go through them.

My husband takes a hard boiled egg to work with him every day and with my baking habit and our penchant for breakfast for dinner eggs disappear quickly.

I mean after making skillet cornbread, a lemon chess bars and breakfast pizza in the same weekend you start piling up the empty eggshells in a hurry! Not to mention how much better the farm fresh eggs are!

Enameled cast iron pot of thick and caramelized goat's milk cajeta, ready to be used.

Woman carrying to baby goats with other goats nearby.

Back to the real story, sometimes we get things even more fun than eggs. Homemade maple syrup, for instance, from trees that my father-in-law tapped himself and lovingly cooked down over a wood fire.

Or goat cheese that started as milk from his goats. He even waxed it and everything!

I always feel especially lucky when we get milk from the goats. I know how much work it is to get it and how much they enjoy it themselves.

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Between drinking it, making yogurt and cheese and of course making and selling the goat milk soap they definitely make good use of it. So when I get some I like to make sure I use it to it’s fullest.

I like to make sure it is something that stands out and that we can savor. This cajeta was just the thing.

Cajeta is a caramelly delicious nectar that may just become your new favorite thing. It is basically the goat milk version of dulce de leche.

So while I think the goat milk really adds some complexity to the flavor, you could definitely use whole cow milk if that’s what you can get. The cinnamon stick is optional as well, but sooooo good. I hope you’ll make a batch with it!

I was curious about the baking soda in the recipe. I have used it in hard caramel before, like peanut brittle and caramel corn, but never in a sauce.

I assumed the reason to use it was to aerate the mixture making it easier to work with and give it a biteable crack rather than making a sugar brick. That isn’t necessary in a sauce.

I did some research and found that the lower pH from the baking soda helps develop the caramelization. Supposedly it helps give it a richer color and flavor.

My inner chemist was satisfied with what I read, probably because it took me longer than I’d like to admit to find an answer I could accept!

bowl of vanilla ice cream with homemade vanilla cajeta drizzled over the top.

While the baking soda in this recipe is not really there for the purpose of aeration, it will certainly still bubble and foam. Please be careful and use a pot at least twice the size you think it should be (and even then, probably the next size up!)

Then just use a little patience. It takes a while to get there, but almost no effort and the wait is worth it!

Use the resulting cajeta however you would dulche de leche. It really is quite versatile as it drizzles easily when warm but piles up high on a spoon when cold like peanut butter (or frosting!)

Warm it up and spoon it over ice cream, spread some over toast, eat it off a spoon or use some for apple empanadas. Don’t worry, I’ll share the recipe for those tomorrow!

Have you ever had cajeta before? What are your favorite uses for cajeta and dulce de leche?

5 from 4 ratings

How to Make Homemade Cajeta

Author: Carlee

Servings: Servings

This Cajeta is liquid gold. It is thick, sweet and caramely. It is great over ice cream, pound cake, as a dip for apples or on a spoon! It is made with goat’s milk for the full flavor, but this recipe could be easily made with cow’s milk as well!

Prep: 5

Cook: 1

Total: 1 5

Equipment

Ingredients

▢ 4 cups whole milk goat's milk if you have it
▢ ½ teaspoon baking soda
▢ 1¼ cup granulated sugar
▢ 1 cinnamon stick
▢ 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

In a small dish, dissolve the ½ teaspoon baking soda in a couple Tablespoons of the milk and set aside.
In a very large pot (the mixture will bubble and foam, so you need a pot at least twice the size you think. I used a 6 qt dutch oven.) Stir together the remaining 4 cups whole milk and 1¼ cup granulated sugar. Add the 1 cinnamon stick.
Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring frequently. Turn off heat and stir in the dissolved baking soda mixture. Be careful, this is one of those bubbling like crazy moments!
Return to medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is golden and thick like honey. This will take about 45 minutes to an hour. You don’t need to stand over it the whole time, but you’ll want to keep an eye on it as it will bubble and you don’t want it sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and remove cinnamon stick. Stir in 2 teaspoon vanilla extract and let cool a bit.
Store in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a couple of weeks. It will tighten up in the cold, but can be made pourable again with a short stint in the microwave.