It's funny, because the other day I was looking at the cans of dulche de leche in my pantry and thinking, "What am I going to do with you?" Next day, I find this wonderful recipe for Dulce de Leche Brownies on David Lebovitz's blog from Paris.

In the American South, the Latin American delicacy of dulche de leche is affectionately called "cooked can" and considered very trailer trash. You basically risk life and limb by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk until it turns to carmel. Luckily, you can also avoid the danger of blowing yourself up by buying it already carmelized in the Hispanic foods section of your local grocery.

The recipe is decadent and delicious because it uses both bittersweet chocolate and cocoa powder. I used the Belgian bittersweet from Trader Joe's that John brought me from Chicago and Penzey's natural cocoa which I think is the best available. Just smell it and you'll understand.

There really wasn't enough batter to layer the brownies as the recipe indicates--in my pan, anyways. Perhaps it was too big? I just put all the batter in the pan, topped with caramel and then swirled it into the batter. Next time, I think I'll try 3/4 cup of sugar instead of the the full cup because the caramel is soooo sweet and I think the contrast with a slightly less sweet brownie would be wonderful. But, end result: these are excellent and I think you should run right out and try them.

Mangez!