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 she was always finding 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 be have been in the thousands!
Her caramel icing was always so good and as I 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. And as an adult, I’ve been known to do it sometimes too. 😉
A never fail caramel icing
The recipe for old-fashioned caramel icing that my Grandmother used was actually just slightly different than this one.
Grandmother’s recipe used the same ingredients but was actually pretty tricky to make. The process was a bit more exacting and required a lot more precision with temperature. And it was 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. 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:
Ellie
Super easy and very delicious 😍 using this to layer in my Twix cake jars
Lydia Beiler
Twix cake? That sounds delicious and decadent! Happy to hear that you liked the icing, Ellie.
Jessica
Thank you for the recipe. It’s just like my grandma’s. This is now my go-to caramel recipe. Xx
Lydia Beiler
It always makes me smile when someone lets me know that their grandma also made caramel icing like this. So glad you can enjoy it and think of her!
Andrea Adams
I made a cake with blueberries, coconut and sliced almonds. I made the Carmel icing and drizzled it on top. It was so delicious 😋
Lydia Beiler
Oh, that does sound like a delicious combination, Andrea! Glad you enjoyed it!