Cheryl (WorknFires)
I had given up on getting a response on this board, so I went out and searched the net. I found two different threads (you'll see that one of them says that it came from on old Eagle Brand publication (no doubt from before lawyers made them pull the recipe). Both are very simialar, although they vary in the amount of time that you boil them. I haven't tried them yet, but they sound very similar to what I remember (and when I try it, I'll probably go with the shorter boiling time). I don't remember the result being so stiff that you could cut it with a knife, but maybe we just started dipping apple slices and didn't notice that we could slice it.
Here are the two web locations (and the text from each)....I'll try them one of these days. If you try them first, let me know your results.
http://recipe-cookie.com/54/286271.shtml
Title: Magic Caramel Pudding (Caramelized Eagle Brand Milk)
Yield: 1 Servings
Ingredients
1 text only
Instructions
Remember awhile back there a thread about boiling Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in the can to caramelize it?
It's popular in Mexico. This weekend I picked up "MAGIC, the most AMAZING SHORT-CUTS in cooking you ever heard of".
It's a proprietary cookbook put out in the late teens or early twenties by the Borden Company. The women all look like Betty Boop's mother, the stoves all have legs and fridges are referred to as "automatic refrigerators" and have ornate hinges and latches. Seems like way back in 1857 Gail Borden perfected the technique for canning milk and the rest is history. The book presents a series of "magic tricks" and then later has recipes that use the end results of the "tricks". Anyway, one of the first things I ran across was this recipe.
Place one or more unopened cans of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk in a kettle of boiling water and keep at boiling point for three hours, being careful to keep can well covered with water. Chill thoroughly.
Remove from can as follows:
Warm can by immersing in hot water about one minute. Punch a hole in bottom of can, remove top with can-openeer, cutting along the side, just below top edge, starting at seam. Loosen caramel from sides of can with a table knife dipped in hot water.
Turn on to plate. Cut in slices with knife dipped in hot water.
NOTE: If a pressure cooker is used to caramelize the milk use 15 pounds pressure for 50 minutes.
As I write this, I'm still savoring the first taste of the finished product. It has a rich, butterscotchy flavor and is a nice, very light tan color. The texture is like a pudding. This has definite potential!
This is almost as good as chocolate! In fact, I can feature this as being part of fudge.
Posted by Stephen Ceideberg; September 7, 1992.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.maria-brazil.org/caramel.htm
Doce de leite
For this delicious - and very sweet! - dessert all you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk.
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Remove label from can. Put it in a large pan with 4 quarts of water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer at low heat for 2 hours. Remove can from pan and let cool. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. Open can on both ends and push the thick caramel out. It should be cylindrical and a golden color. Spoon it onto your plate or cut into slices to serve. It looks and tastes like the "dulce de leche" from Argentina and other Latin American countries. Of course, in the US, the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk can label says specifically NOT to heat the unopened can...we've been doing this in Brazil for at least 50 years...has anyone heard of an accident with one of them???
A little secret: If you live in South Florida your supermarket is bound to carry dulce de leche. So, you can have your "doce de leite" minus the work and time it takes to make it.
I have a grill w/ the side burner attached so I could even boil it outside for the extra safety precaution. 
