Dulce de Leche Fruit Dip

Mmmm.  Fruit dip.  Is there anyone out there that doesn’t like fruit dip?  Good.  I didn’t think so.

Fruit is so wonderful on it’s own.  And lord knows I eat a ton of it, all year long.  Especially in the summer.  I LIVE on fruit in the summer.  But as the weather turns colder, our options at the grocery store are getting slimmer.  The berries and melons and stone fruits of summer are disappearing and making way for the dozens of varieties of fall apples, the citrus fruits, and of course, the bananas we subsist on all winter.  Not that I have anything against cold weather produce. .. we just have a VERY long cold season here in NW Pennsylvania.  And eating apples, bananas and oranges for six months gets really old.

Fruit dip to the rescue!  I never get tired of fruit dip.  Especially THIS fruit dip.  I was doing a Mexican themed dinner a few weeks ago and had the inspiration for this recipe.   I later googled the term “Dulce de Leche Fruit Dip”…and got ONE corresponding result.  On THE WHOLE INTERNET.  Now, granted, I didn’t vigilantly continue searching other keywords like “Caramel Fruit Dip” or “Mexican Fruit Dip” that would have probably turned up 10 million results and spoiled my elation.  But still.

This is what I had planned to have for breakfast this morning.  Yum.

Hey wait!  That was my banana!

Drat!  The kids discovered my food.

“Thanks for letting us have fruit dip for breakfast mom!”

“You’re so welcome.  Now hands off my apple.”

So what is Dulce de Leche?  You probably have a vague idea.  Or maybe you don’t.  In any case, it’s very similar to caramel.   There are subtle nuances in taste but the main difference is in the preparation.  Caramel is made by melting sugar to a specific temperature and then (usually) adding cream and butter.  Dulce de Leche is made by heating sweetened milk slowly over a long time, condensing it and, well, caramelizing, the sugar.  Alton Brown gives a nice demonstration here on how to make Dulce de Leche from scratch if you want to try it.  And maybe someday I’ll do that.

But for now I’m totally happy with this.  It’s almost embarrassingly easy.  These are your ingredients.

Yep.  That’s it.  Let the cream cheese come up to room temp and whip ’em together.  It goes fabulously with many fruits, some of the best, I think, being strawberries, bananas, apples, and pineapple.  Bring it to your next party.  It will be gone before the fiesta is over.

Dulce de Leche Fruit Dip

1 8oz package cream cheese

1 13.4oz can Dulce de Leche (found in your grocer’s Latino section)

1 8oz tub of Cool Whip

EDIT:  I now add a pinch of sea salt.  It makes an already great fruit dip out-of-this-world-delicious.

Allow cream cheese to come up to room temperature.  Whip together until homogenous.  Serve cold with assorted fruit.