Easy Caramel Frosting

This is a quick and easy caramel frosting recipe that everyone should have tucked up their sleeve for when a cake hankering strikes. My mom has been making it for years and it’s a particular favorite of my dad’s. And he’s not the only one who loves it.

When my niece was small, she would stay with us for sleepovers on the weekends sometimes. She loved for us to bake together so one Saturday night, we whipped up a cake mix but I didn’t have any canned frosting. I actually knew this recipe by heart so we made it for our cake. I noticed she was making a lot of trips into the kitchen that evening. I finally went in to see what was going on and she had eaten the frosting off half of the cake!

I like this on a yellow or white cake best. Try it on your favorite recipe, boxed cake or even a “McGyver” cake. Enjoy!

Caramel Frosting

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup whole milk

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 to 4 cups of confectioners sugar

Cook butter, brown sugar, salt and milk over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Keep the heat low and stir often so that the mixture doesn’t burn. When you’re finished, it will look like this and taste like caramel.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly for about 5 minutes. Add in the vanilla.

Next, start adding in your confectioners sugar. Start with 2 cups then add in more in half cup increments until your frosting comes to a spreadable consistency. It won’t be as stiff as buttercream. For me, this took 4 cups of sugar. The frosting will start to “swirl” as you stir it and you’ll know it’s stiff enough to spread.

Spread it on your cooled cake and enjoy. That’s it! This makes enough to frost a 13×9 sheet cake easily. For a layer cake, you might want to double the recipe.