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 have been in the thousands!
Her old-fashioned 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 caramel cake 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. 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:
Jen
This frosting is delicious and easy to make. Thank you for sharing!!
Lydia Beiler
Glad you enjoyed it, Jen!
Sherre B
This was very easy and worked perfectly. Mine was a bit thin. But no complaints here. I love it and will keep this recipe
Lydia Beiler
Happy to hear that you enjoyed it, Sherre!
Pam Rogers
This is a great recipe!! Very easy, and very good.
Lydia Beiler
Delighted to hear that you like the recipe, Pam!
Pam Robbins
This is fabulous frosting! I’ve always been afraid of making caramel frosting – browning sugar, etc., but this recipe is so easy and has turned out perfect every time I’ve used it!
Gb
I used this icing on soft sugar cookies. I used buttermilk instead if milk. Huge hit with my family! This icing does set pretty quickly which made the consistency perfect for cookies. Very tasty!
Lydia Beiler
Oh, I can imagine this would taste amazing on cookies! And now I wonder how the buttermilk changed the flavor. Bet it would be good!
Karin
It is frosting with a light carmel flavor. After making the butter/brown sugar, I was expecting a much richer and deeper flavor. So I was very disappointed. I followed the recipe exactly, except for adding a little vanilla to it. The frosting is stiff, which was fine for my needs, and sets quickly.
Lydia Beiler
I’m sorry that it left you feeling disappointed, Karin! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and experience.
Linda
Brings back wonderful memories of my Grandmother. She lived in Pa Dutch country so I always called it Amish icing! Kids😂 still to his day it’s my go to with a dark chocolate cake. A must try😊
Lydia Beiler
I love that you called this Amish icing! I have Mennonite roots and my Mennonite grandmother is the one that was known for her caramel icing, so you aren’t far off.😉