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 cup butter (4 oz.)
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups 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:
Renee Yar
Just made this with dark brown sugar (what I had) and 2 cups of powdered sugar and it set up perfectly! Had enough to ice 21 yellow cupcakes. Question: Is it 2 minutes from a boil or a rolling boil for the brown sugar and butter? I think mine was in between a boil and a rolling boil and I did the 2 minutes and it was not grainy at all. I will certainly print this and make it again. Thanks!!
Lydia Beiler
I’m so happy that it turned out well and that you loved it, Renee! I am a bit flexible with the 2 minutes, but typically it is from the time it starts to bubble nicely. So I guess closer to a rolling boil?
Rosalyn Drury
Just made this really quick, sifted my confectioners sugar, not a lump in sight! Delicious!!!! Easy, Quick!
Lydia Beiler
Delighted that it was a hit with you, Rosalyn. It really is so quick and easy…and of course delicious! 😉
Melissa Derrig
Hello,
I’m definitely going to try this, but do you know if your grandmother use Kari light corn syrup, by chance?
It was used in the recipes handed down to me.
Lydia Beiler
No, her recipe was the same ingredients, just slightly different ratios and method. I hope you enjoy this one if you give it a try!
Deb Solove
This is exactly my mother-in-law’s recipe. I have combined it with a chocolate drop cookie my mother made. They have both been gone for a number of years but my sister, kids and grandkids really appreciate this sweet remembrance of them. The problem as you note is keeping it a spreading consistency to ice 3 dozen cookies. Ideas? Also, no matter what I do, the powdered sugar leaves little lumps in the icing. Sifting does not improve that much. Ideas other than whisking which I haven’t tried yet?
Lydia Beiler
Those cookies sound delicious! And I just love how food is such a connecting thing and help loved ones feel close. The only tip I have for spreading consistency is this: a reader on Pinterest said that they only added 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar instead of 2 cups and that it firmed up but didn’t harden. You could possibly try that? I don’t know what to tell you about the lumps. I only have issues with that if my powdered sugar is lumpy and I’m too lazy to sift it. Otherwise, using a whisk to stir it, both in the pan and then also to mix in the powdered sugar, seems to do the trick.
Joy
Do you put this frosting on a warm or cooled cake?
Lydia Beiler
The cake should be cooled.
John
Yep this was pretty much my grandmother’s recipe as well. I can get it to work on a layer cake if you get that consistency just right.
Lydia Beiler
Good to know!
Donna
After icing on cake, can I store it at room temperature and for how long ?
Lydia Beiler
As long as it’s not super hot out, you should be able to keep it at room temperature for 2 days. After that, I’d refrigerate it.
Christie
I needed a quick icing with few ingredients to appease a sweet tooth for my daughter and myself. This worked out perfect. Thank you so much 😁
Lydia Beiler
This makes me so happy to hear, Christie!