Goat’s Milk Caramel (Cajeta)
What is Cajeta?
Cajeta is very similar to the ever popular dulce de leche, a dairy based confection that uses cow’s milk. Cajeta, on the other hand has its roots in Mexico and is based on goat’s milk. Buy Cajeta.
“Cajeta is a Mexican confection of thickened syrup usually made of sweetened caramelized milk. According to chef Rick Bayless, the name for cajeta came from the Spanish phrase al punto de cajeta, which means a liquid thickened to the point at which a spoon drawn through the liquid reveals the bottom of the pot in which it is being cooked. However, it is more popularly assumed that it takes its name from the small wooden boxes it was traditionally packed in. Mexican cajeta is considered a specialty of and popularly associated with the city of Celaya in the state of Guanajuato, although it is also produced with the traditional method in several towns of the state of Jalisco, such as Mazamitla and Sayula.” — Wikipedia
While standard caramel sauces are based on sugar (often times high fructose corn syrup) with very little dairy, cajeta is primarily a dairy based product. As a result, our caramel is incredibly creamy and is not as intensely sweet as conventional caramel sauces.
Our Story
Josey Hastings, one of the Fat Toad family members, spent ten years living part-time in Mexico and part-time in Vermont. Her land in Mexico is part of a small hill community where she learned many traditional methods of cooking, including making cajeta. Josey brought cajeta knowledge and recipes back to the farm with her and inspired us to start making our own caramel with milk from our goats.
Though cajeta is commonly produced and sold in Mexico, it is much harder to find in the United States. A few larger companies like Hershey’s produce a commercialized version of the product, but we’ve found that these products lack the quality that comes from our small-scale artisanal batches. We spend hours hand stirring, testing, jarring, labeling and packaging each individual jar of caramel.
Best Uses
Our cajeta is a creamy sauce with a silky texture and wonderfully complex, tangy flavor. We have found a use for our caramel at just about every meal during every season – Drizzle it on granola and strawberries in the spring, over homemade ice cream or grilled fruit in the hot summer months, baked into apple or pumpkin pies and breads in the fall, add to your hot chocolate in the winter months or use as a delicious glaze for your holiday roast. Of course we stir it into our coffee (and often catch each other eating it straight out of the jar) just about every day!
Click here to find great cajeta recipes!
