The Best Caramel Buttercream Frosting
Sweet, creamy, and delicious, our The Best Caramel Buttercream Frosting tastes great on nearly every type of cake, cupcake, or cookie.
Caramel is good in candy. Caramel is good on popcorn. Caramel is good on ice cream. Caramel is especially good on cakes, cupcakes, and cookies. Sweet, buttery caramel in a creamy buttercream frosting – this truly is The Best Caramel Frosting we’ve ever tasted. If you are looking for a rich. buttery and easy-to-make homemade buttercream frosting … you’ve come to the right place.
How to Make
Step 1: The base of this Caramel Frosting is a homemade caramel sauce. In a heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, and milk.
Step 2: Cook and stir over low heat. This is an important part of the process. If you rush through this step, your caramel sauce might turn out grainy, which means your frosting will be grainy. You don’t need to stir constantly, but you do need to stir often. Once all the butter is completely melted, set a timer and stir continuously for at least 1 minute.
Step 3: Increase the heat to medium. Do not stir.
Step 4: Cook for 3-6 minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, cook the sauce until it reaches 230 degrees. If not, cook until bubbles form across the entire surface of the sauce and the mixture turns the color of amber. For us, that is usually around 3 minutes. The length of cooking time depends on how big or small your pan is. If you are using a small pan, the mixture might take up to 6 minutes to reach this state. In a bigger pan, it might only be around 3 – 3 1/2 minutes.
Steps 5-6: Remove the caramel mixture from the heat and transfer it to a bowl or a glass measuring cup. It will be very hot so you want to make sure the container is heat-resistant. Cool to sauce room temperature. The Caramel Sauce will thicken as it cools and it might be a little grainy. This is fine.
Step 7: Once the caramel mixture has cooled, add it to a mixing bowl with the powdered sugar.
Step 8: Gradually mix the caramel sauce with the powdered sugar until the frosting is combined and is the desired consistency. Add milk, a teaspoon at a time, if the frosting is too thick.
How to Serve
How much frosting will you need? That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough Homemade Caramel Icing to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, or to be a filling layer on an 8″ cake. If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 10-12 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife. If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag as we have done here, you should be able to frost 8-9 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl. If you want to frost an entire 8″ cake, you will need to make a double batch of this frosting.
Expert Tips and FAQ’s
Frosting stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator should be good for up to a week. If you carefully wrap the frosting in order to avoid freezer burn, the frosting should be fine in the freezer for 3-4 months.
Yes. Because it is a thin frosting it will hold up best in the refrigerator. We store the baked goods frosted with this Salted Caramel Frosting in the refrigerator but then remove them from the refrigerator a couple of hours before we will serve them so the frosting comes back up to room temperature (which is how it tastes best.)
Add another teaspoon of milk and mix again. Continue to add the milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is the consistency that you like it
Temperature plays a big part in the consistency of frosting. A thin frosting could mean that the butter has gotten overworked and is too melted. The first thing to do is refrigerate the frosting for an hour and then check to see if the frosting has set back up again. If not, the next step is to add more powdered sugar or cornstarch. Start with either 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar or 1 tablespoon of Cornstarch. Mix again and see if the consistency is better.
Other Frosting Recipes You Will Love
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The Best Caramel Buttercream Frosting
Sweet, creamy and delicious, our The Best Caramel Buttercream Frosting tastes great on nearly every type of cake, cupcake or cookie.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
- 1/2 cup Butter, cubed (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)
- 1/4 cup Milk
- 2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- The base of this Caramel Frosting is a homemade caramel sauce. In a heavy saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, and milk.
- Cook and stir over low heat. This is an important part of the process. If you rush through this step, your caramel sauce might turn out grainy, which means your frosting will be grainy. You don't need to stir constantly, but you do need to stir often. Once all the butter is completely melted, set a timer and stir continuously for at least 1 minute.
- Increase the heat to medium. Do not stir.
- Cook for 3-6 minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, cook the sauce until it reaches 230 degrees. If not, cook until bubbles form across the entire surface of the sauce and the mixture turns the color of amber. For us, that is usually around 3 minutes. The length of cooking time depends on how big or small your pan is. If you are using a small pan, the mixture might take up to 6 minutes to reach this state. In a bigger pan, it might only be around 3 - 3 1/2 minutes.
- Remove the caramel mixture from the heat and transfer it to a bowl or a glass measuring cup. It will be very hot so you want to make sure the container is heat-resistant. Cool to sauce room temperature. The Caramel Sauce will thicken as it cools and it might be a little grainy. This is fine.
- Once the caramel mixture has cooled, add it to a mixing bowl with the powdered sugar.
- Gradually mix the caramel sauce with the powdered sugar until the frosting is combined and is the desired consistency.
- Add milk, a teaspoon at a time, if the frosting is too thick.
Notes
How Much Frosting Will You Need?
That always depends on how thick or thin you apply the frosting or how much decorating you do but here are a couple of guidelines. Our recipe should make enough The Best Caramel Buttercream Frosting to cover a 9″ x 13″ sheet cake, or to be a filling layer on an 8″ cake.  If you are making cupcakes, you should be able to frost 10-12 cupcakes if you apply the frosting with a knife.  If you swirl on the frosting with a pastry bag as we have done here, you should be able to frost 8-9 cupcakes depending on the size of the swirl. If you want to frost an entire 8" cake, you will need to make a double batch of this frosting.
Did you Make this Recipe? Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @twosisterscrafting on Instagram so we can see it!
