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Most caramel icing recipes I’ve seen call for a candy thermometer and closely watching a pot of melting sugar so that it doesn’t burn. Time consuming and tedious. So here I’m sharing a quick and easy caramel icing recipe that I discovered. I’ve used it to frost plain vanilla or white cakes, so that the icing is the main attraction, and it has always received rave reviews.
This recipe makes about 3 cups, enough caramel icing for a 2- or 3-layer cake. If that’s too much for you, you can also halve the recipe. That will make enough to top one round 9″ cake. As the icing cools, it will start to set. If you want a thin glaze on your cake, drizzle the hot icing over your cake right away. However, if you want a thicker frosting, beat the icing until it starts cooling, and then frost your cake. This icing thickens rather quickly; if you need to loosen it up, just put the pot back on the heat and stir until it melts again.
Use this easy icing to frost our applesauce cake. It would also be nice if drizzled on ice cream or sugar cookies.
Easy Caramel Icing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 2 cups icing sugar sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place the butter and brown sugars in a medium pot.
- Stir over medium heat and cook until it comes to a boil (it should look grainy).
- Add the milk, stir, and bring the mixture back to a boil (the brown sugar should now magically dissolve!).
- Remove the pan from the heat, and add the icing sugar and vanilla.
- Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Use the hot icing immediately to frost any cake, otherwise it will start to set.
- If the icing stiffens and becomes unusable, just put the pan back on medium heat and stir until it melts again.
- Let the icing cool and set once on the cake – it should look smooth and beautiful!
Meinhilde,
I’m hopping over from “Inspire Me Mondays”. Looks good! Thanks for sharing. I saved your recipe and I gave you a Tweet-out, too. Have a great day!
This sounds a lovely addition to any cake! I love caramel, so this would be preferable to me over even a chocolate frosting. #MMBC
Saving this recipe because I LOVE caramel icing but have always been too scared to make my own. 🙂 Maybe I could actually do this.
Ummm, this looks delicious! Caramel topping is one of my absolute faves and I’m so glad I don’t need a candy thermometer to make it – yum!
Sounds delicious! And Easy!
You’re most welcome to join me in a cuppa at Tea With Jennifer,
Jennifer
Seriously if this works you are the most amazing person, I have struggled with making caramel for years, I have in fact given up and now just buy a can of the stuff, I will be giving this a go.
YUM! Although I’m a chocoholic, I still like the looks of this cake, tasty! Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 14, open until July 26. All party entries shared if social media buttons installed.
I haven’t made this yet, but it is really tempting. When things open up a bit more socially, I will try this for a gathering. If I make it just for us, I will be the only one eating it! Thanks for sharing this. Shared on my Pinterest board.
This sounds delicious! We make an old cake from the depression that is terrific. I usually but penuche frosting on it. However, I’ll give this one a try next time. It should be a great fit! Thanks for sharing!
Yum! I love, love caramel sauce/icing! It makes it really easy to take a cake to extra special.
Ooh, I love anything with caramel! This looks amazing. I pinned it for the next time I need icing! Thanks for sharing and linking up with me.
Shelbee
http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com
I love caramel and this sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ’s.
What beautiful caramel icing! I have to admit, caramel anything is a real favourite of mine, so I hope to try this soon! thank you so much for sharing and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party community. Have a lovely week!
Caramel is my favourite flavour so i will definitely be giving this a go! #ThatFridayLinky
Definitely saving this one for later! Making caramel is very time consuming indeed. So a quicker way to get amazing caramel icing/frosting is more than welcome haha. It does look amazing!
[…] Quick and Easy Caramel Icing – Perfect for Cakes and Cookies! […]
Looks delicious! We will be Featuring at Funtastic Friday Link Party this Thursday, 7/16! Pinned, too.
Sounds amazing, will pass this on to the baker (teen daughter!) in the family! thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling sunday!
Wow, this really is simple to make with no fussy ingredients, I will be sure to try this out on my baking. #FiestaFriday
Might give this a try as I finally got icing sugar last week. Thanks for linking with #pocolo and hope to see you back soon
Caramel everything is one of my pregnancy cravings, so definitely adding to list!
[…] at Penny’s Passion chose Quick and East Caramel Icing from Kiku […]
[…] is a great way dress your cakes and cupcakes. Kiku’s corner shared a fantastic Quick and Easy Caramel Icing. Easy is my kind of […]
What if I only have light brown sugar?
Hi! You can use light brown sugar, but the finished icing won’t have as strong a caramel flavour. It’ll totally work though!
Greetings from a very old grandmother/baker. This is the best caramel icing I’ve ever made and I have tried way too many recipes for it because it was my father’s favorite. I appreciate recipes that use basic pantry staples with simple instructions. My mom once told me that an old-fashioned recipe shouldn’t be complicated or expensive because no one would have ever made it. My grandson’s eyes glazed over when he tested your icing and pronounced the search to be over. High praise indeed…many thanks.
Wow, this is the best praise we could have ever asked for! I’m so glad you and your family like it 🙂
Do you use salted or unsalted butter? Or when you say butter are you talking tub butter?
You could use either salted or unsalted, but I always use salted (I like the flavour better). And I use butter that comes as a stick.
About 30 years ago my grandmother-in-law tried to teach me her boiled caramel icing recipe. Failure! I eventually mastered her peanut butter fudge recipe, but the icing eluded me.
This is a great substitute for her recipe and far, far easier. I made it to top apple cupcakes for my daughter’s 19th and they were a hit with her and her caramel-icing -loving father. I literally dunked the tops in the pot to frost them – simple!
As promised, adding the milk was magical, and i just put the pot back on the hot burner to do the last one or two.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Wow, thank you for such a great comment! I’m so happy it comes close to your grandmother-in-law’s recipe, but much quicker and easier ha ha!
I made this. The taste is excellent and amazing.
One problem, though:
The powdered sugar clumped up quite a bit. Sifting did NOT lessen the clumping.
Any ideas or suggestions on reducing the lumpiness?
Thanks
We found that if you stir (or even beat!) the icing vigorously, the powdered sugar eventually blends into the icing with no clumps. Hope this helps!
Do you sift the powdered sugar after measuring it? I measured two cups and then sifted it and it grew!!!!
Sifting adds air to powdered sugar so it will measure a different volume before and after. Thankfully this recipe is very forgiving, so you could use either one. I normally give the powdered sugar a stir to loosen it up, measure out the 2 cups, then sift it into the pot directly. Hope this helps!
Made this tonite for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies..incredibly easy..totally scrumptious! Can I give it 1000 stars please😋
I’ve just made this for my son’s birthday cake. It’s worked really well. Simple recipe and luxurious result. Thanks very much!
We’re so glad you liked it! It’s one of our favourite and fail-proof icing recipes 🙂
I haven’t made this yet but it sounds yummy. My husband loves caramel anything. Can you use 1% milk cause that’s all I have.
I haven’t tried it with 1% milk, but I think it may work!
Will this work with dairy free milk and butter?
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure. But I think a soy milk and a vegan margarine would be your best bet, since soy milk is closest to regular milk. Let me know how it goes!
What is icing sugar? Can I use regular sugar?
When I Google caramel recipes I chose yours because it looked the most appealing to the eye and can’t wait to try it.
How much chocolate do you use for chocolate caramel?
Does this thicken right away ?
I have tried to make this and it’s always runny it never thickens !
What am I doing wrong 😭
Are you adding too much milk? Is the butter not hot enough? Are you adding enough icing sugar?
Is the recipe enough to ice a 3 layer cake or should I double it? TIA
I would double the recipe just to make sure you had enough. However, this is a thin icing, not a thick frosting, so the filling between the layers will be very thin. You could try filling a cake with a buttercream or custard, and then use the caramel icing on top.
Grata pela receita. Há anos procuro essa cobertura e vou fazer agora! Feliz ano novo! Enviando desde o Brasil!
It is mid
The is truly a amazing but simple recipe.the color is great the sweetness, the flavor really came together nicely.
I was able to frost a 9 inch two layer cake very generously, so happy with my outcome.
Loved it only one question what can I do to thin this out a little as it seemed too thick even when hot.
You can add a bit more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you get your desired consistency. Hope this helps!
Can I use normal brown sugar instead of dark brow sugar?
Yes you can!
This icing is wonderful! It is not grainy AT ALL. I made it with all light brown sugar because that’s all I had and it turned out fine. My powdered sugar did clump a little when I put it in, but with a whisk I was able to work all of them out before going back to wooden spoon. I made a 13×9 cake and had the perfect amount. It hardened perfectly without cracking as other recipes I’ve tried. Thank you!
Hi, I tried the recipe twice. The carmel became very grainy and it was super sweet. I didnt have much success getting the caramel flavor. I will try again one day. Thanks
My grandmother use to make the best caramel frosting for cakes. I could kick myself for never learning how and have been afraid to even try. Well, my stepdad requested a cake with caramel frosting for his birthday which was July 5 but we celebrated it today, July 7. Of course I tasted it when I was making it and it was really good. My grandmother would be proud. Everyone said how good it was but most of all, I could tell my Stepdad really loved it. I am ready to make it again!! Thank you for sharing it!!
I’m glad you all loved it, and I hope the icing did your grandmother proud!
I’m concerned about the 2 cups of icing sugar. I will just put probably 1 cup of icing sugar.. Will update
The 2 cups of icing sugar is required to get the proper consistency and amount needed to frost a cake. I think the icing using just 1 cup will be way too runny, but please let us know how it turns out!
It turned out great. Perfect frosting for my blackberry cake.
This is delicious and easy as can be. I used it on top of a store bought apple pie. My oh my!!
So delicious! I replaced it with soy milk and canola oil to make it dairy free and it’s great. If I make in advance, where do I store the icing? Does it need to go in the fridge until I use it?
The icing tends to set as it cools, so you can try warming it up again when you need to use it.
I have tried to make caramel icing, but I failed. So, I decided to goggle for a recipe for a medium brown caramel icing. When I saw your cake, I said that’s it. I can’t wait until tomorrow to buy the ingredients for the icing. Thanking you in advance. Question: is there a substitute icing sugar? Can I use confect instead?
Hi! Confectioner’s sugar is just another name for icing sugar, so it will work. This icing is so easy, I hope it’s what you want!
Toss some cooked chopped bacon on top of the frosting or a light sprinkle of coarse salt for those who love sweet and salty combos.