You’ll love this easy caramel icing recipe! It’s made with basic pantry staples, takes around 10 minutes to make and beats store-bought frosting ANY day!
It’s been just over a year since my sweet 95-year-old Grandmother went to be with Jesus. And I’ve been finding myself thinking a lot about her life and the legacy she left.
Grandmother loved to cook and always found ways to serve people, both through her love of cooking and otherwise.
One dessert that she was known for far and wide, was her chocolate cake with caramel icing. I wonder how many of those she must have made in her lifetime. It had to have been in the thousands!
Her old-fashioned caramel icing was always so good and as a child, I loved to peel it off the cake in one piece, eat the cake by itself and then slowly savor the delicious caramel icing all on its own. As an adult, I’ve been known to do it sometimes too. 😉
A never fail caramel icing
The recipe for caramel cake icing that my Grandmother used was actually just slightly different than this one.
Grandmother’s recipe used the same ingredients but was pretty tricky to make. The process was a bit more exacting and required a lot more precision with temperature. It was also somewhat difficult to get it to consistently turn out perfectly.
Shortly after I married, an older lady from our church shared this easy recipe for caramel icing with me. I was so excited when I tried it because it tasted just like Grandmother’s famous recipe!
But instead of being tricky to make, this recipe was super easy and is pretty much a never fail caramel icing recipe and turns out perfect every time!
So I switched to this simpler recipe and have never looked back! I’ve made it for numerous extended family get-togethers and everyone has agreed that it tastes just like Grandmother’s!
We love this easy caramel icing on my Best Ever Chocolate Cake and it goes perfectly with my Super Moist Gingerbread Cake too.
Apple cakes, such as this Applesauce Cake, pair wonderfully with caramel icing as well.
Easy Caramel Frosting Recipe
Easy Caramel Icing
Ingredients
- ½ c. butter
- 1 c. light brown sugar
- ¼ c. milk
- 2 c. sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
- Melt butter and brown sugar together on low heat. Bring to boil and boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add milk and heat just until boiling again. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Mix in powdered sugar until smooth. (I find using a whisk or hand mixer really helps to get it nice and smooth.)
Notes
Other dessert recipes that you might enjoy:
April Williamson
WHAT A HIT!!!!! EASY, QUICK AND SO DELICIOUS. I need to double it next time so I have enough to frost the cake after all the ‘tasting’ I just had to do.
Lydia Beiler
That tasting is so important, April! We need to make sure it’s fit to put on the cake, right?! 😉 Really delighted to hear that you loved it so much. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.
Patti
I just made this. It’s a wonderful recipe! I use to make a similar frosting that was a lot more time consuming and required a candy thermometer. I didn’t always get it right and stopped using it altogether.
This was easy, quick and delicious! Thanks
Lydia Beiler
Your recipe sounds a lot like the one that my Grandmother made. So much more complicated and not reliable like this one! So glad you found it and enjoyed it, Patti!
D Smoot
Tried making this twice and it was gritty. The sugar did not dissolve, and I boiled for 2 minutes plus.
Lydia Beiler
I’m sorry to hear this. It’s always hard to diagnose the problem without actually being there, but it sounds like maybe you didn’t let it have enough time to melt/dissolve before you brought it to a boil. It should be heated on lower heat until dissolved, then brought to a boil. Otherwise, yes, it will be grainy.
Lauren Bolger
Can I make this ahead of time? Fay before?
Lydia Beiler
You can make a cake ahead of time and ice it, but you can’t just make the icing ahead of time and then frost the cake the day of as this icing will firm up fairly quickly.
Lisa Hess Dufour
Very easy to make and turned out perfect. I made 1/2 recipe just to use as a topping on a butter pecan Bundt cake, such a hit! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Lydia Beiler
That sounds delicious, Lisa! So happy that it was a hit.
Dawn L
I would like make this frosting and frost cinnamon rolls.
Lydia Beiler
Sounds delicious! Just beware that it does set up quickly!
cathy
love this! easy. quick, deli ious..shared with my friends
Lydia Beiler
I love to hear this, Cathy!