This easy caramel buttercream frosting is perfect for adding sweetness to your cakes and bakes. It's a 3-ingredient recipe that takes less than 15 minutes and uses store-bought caramel sauce.
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✏️ Why you'll love this recipe
This creamy caramel frosting is an American-style buttercream, making it super simple to whip up in less than 15mins.
I first made this caramel frosting for my easy salted caramel whiskey cupcakes. It was so delicious and addictive that I wanted to add it to all my other desserts!
It's a caramel dream for topping treats for special occasions, parties and festive desserts, like these apple cinnamon blondies.
This recipe is based on my classic vanilla American buttercream frosting. The heavy cream and/or milk is replaced with tasty shop-bought caramel or toffee sauce.
You can also easily turn this buttercream recipe into a salted caramel frosting by adding ¼ teaspoon of sea salt.
🥘 Ingredients
This caramel frosting recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- Unsalted butter: room temperature for a softened butter that's easier to beat.
- Powdered icing sugar: sieve your confectioners' sugar for a smooth frosting.
- Caramel sauce: store-bought thick sauce from a jar or tin rather than a squeezy bottle.
- Salt (optional)
See the recipe card for quantities.
Top tip: For accuracy, it's best to weigh your ingredients rather than using cups.
♻️ Substitutions / Variations
Ingredient substitutions
I use a caramel sauce for this frosting recipe, but you can swap this for other thick sweet sauces such as dulce de leche, fudge, butterscotch or toffee. They must be in a thick liquid form.
When using store-bought caramel, you want the one that comes in a tin or jar where possible, as these are often thicker than the squeezy bottles or syrupy ones used for coffees. I use the tinned Carnation caramel sauce.
You can also make your own homemade caramel sauce instead of buying it at a grocery store. This caramel recipe by broma bakery is great!
Personally, I also love using salted rum dulce de leche sauce in place of the caramel in this recipe!
Flavour options
I love this caramel frosting as it is, but you can make it salted caramel frosting by beating in ¼ teaspoon of sea salt as the final step in the recipe.
You can also add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to your frosting for a sweet vanilla twist on your icing.
Caramel flavoured buttercream lends really well to the addition of alcohol. Add a boozy twist to your frosting with 1 tablespoon of whiskey, rum or any spirit / liqueur of your choice.
📖 Method
Step 1: Beat the butter for several minutes until pale and fluffy.
Steps 2 - 3: Sieve in half of your powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
Step 4: Repeat with the other half of your powdered sugar.
Steps 5 - 6: Add in the caramel sauce and salt (if using), beating until smooth.
💭 Top tips
- For creamy frosting, beat your butter until it's pale, light and fluffy first. This could take several minutes with an electric mixer and longer by hand.
- Avoid a cloud of sugar in your face by stirring your sieved powdered sugar into your butter briefly. Use a wooden spoon or spatula briefly before turning on the electric mixer. Though if you want to breathe tasty sugar air, I won't judge you!
- If your frosting is too thick to pipe, add room-temperature milk to thin the consistency. Use ½ tablespoon at a time until it's right.
- If your frosting is too thin, you can try chilling it in the fridge for 10-20mins before use. Alternatively, you can beat in a few more tablespoons of butter to thicken it.
- If you have any leftover frosting, use it for cake pops and cakesicles!
❔ Recipe FAQs
Your caramel buttercream should last for up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. You may need to bring it to room temperature and re-beat it before use.
Yes! You can freeze your buttercream stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost and re-beat before use.
Caramel is a sugar candy created by heating sugar to a certain temperature. This breaks down the components and creates that rich golden-brown colour.
Cream, butter, vanilla and/or salt are often added to caramel to add creaminess and flavour.
You can find tins or jars of thick caramel sauce either online (e.g. Amazon) or in the grocery store, usually in the baking aisle or near the ice cream toppings.
I recommend Carnation caramel.
Yes, you can make your frosting ahead of time and then store it in the fridge or freeze it until you're ready.
Bring it up to room temperature first for ease of use.
To get rid of air bubbles in your frosting, beat it on a low speed using a paddle attachment. The whisk attachment can sometimes add too much air.
Alternatively, you can stir it with a spatula or wooden spoon by hand for a few minutes.
This is a gluten-free recipe for caramel frosting, but always check your ingredients for cross-contamination if you're unsure.
To make vegan caramel frosting, you can swap the butter for a firm dairy-free butter (baking block). You must use the solid kind rather than a liquid or soft variety.
Original store-bought caramel sauce is not vegan. However, they have dairy-free (vegan) variations that you can use as a substitute instead, usually made of condensed coconut milk and brown sugar.
You can make your own homemade vegan caramel using this recipe by School Night Vegan too!
If you're baking for vegans, be sure to use your vegan frosting on a vegan cupcake, cake or cookie!
🧁 Frosting uses
You can use this caramel icing to frost your cupcakes, cakes, cookies, macarons or brownies.
Be sure to only frost your goodies once they've cooled fully or your frosting will melt off them.
Frost your baked goods with this homemade caramel buttercream by spreading a generous amount using an offset spatula or knife.
Alternatively, you can pipe your buttercream using a piping bag and a piping nozzle of your choice. When I frost cakes and cupcakes, I usually use the nozzles from this large piping tips set.
Amounts
This recipe makes enough to frost roughly 10 cupcakes (regular size). Make sure you're using cool cupcakes not ones fresh from the oven.
To frost a cake fully (outside coating and between layers), you'll need to double this recipe (scale up by x2) for a 3-layer round 6-inch cake.
For a 3-layer round 8-inch cake, triple this recipe (i.e. scale up by x3).
Depending on how sweet you like your traybakes, you'll only need half the amount of this frosting recipe for an 8-inch square size traybake cake or brownies. Spread a thick layer across your cooled traybake before cutting it into slices.
Toppings and decorations
There are loads of great options for topping your buttercream. One of the classic ideas is to drizzle any leftover caramel sauce on top.
It's sticky but delicious!
Alternatively, I like drizzling melted chocolate on top of my frosted treats.
Decorate with fun and colourful sprinkles, chocolate chips or mini butterscotch and toffee pieces. Crushed honeycomb also works a treat!
🍪 Other goodies
Looking for some more easy desserts?
If you love easy frosting ideas, perfect for birthday parties and special occasions, give these tasty toppings a try:
- Boozy Baileys buttercream
- Fresh lemon buttercream
- Orange buttercream
- Pink vanilla buttercream
- Matcha green tea buttercream
- White chocolate lemon no-cream ganache
Check out the frosting collection for more recipes!
For more great treats to top with caramel buttercream, check out these delicious desserts:
- Victoria sponge cake
- Banana walnut drip cake
- Pecan brownies - the perfect fall treat!
- Funfetti cupcakes
Looking forward to some new recipes? Check out my Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages for a few sneak peeks and some sweet inspiration!
Or if you'd like to hear about our latest recipes, why not subscribe to our newsletter?
📖 Recipe
Caramel Buttercream Frosting
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Equipment
- Mixing bowl medium
- Hand mixer optional
Ingredients
- 115 g (½ cups) unsalted butter room temp.
- 150 g (1 ¼ cups) powdered icing sugar
- 65 g (¼ cups) caramel sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt optional
Instructions
- Beat the butter (either by hand, using an electric mixer or stand mixer) until pale, light and fluffy. This could take several minutes.
- Sieve half of the powdered icing sugar into the butter and beat until combined, then repeat this with the remaining half of powdered icing sugar.
- Add in the caramel and salt (if using), mixing until only just smooth. Use to frost your cupcakes, cakes, brownies, etc. and enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe makes enough to frost roughly 10 cupcakes (regular size).
- To frost a round 3-layer cake fully (top, outside and between layers), double the recipe for 6-inch cake or triple it for 8-inch cake.
- Use the thick store-bought caramel sauce that usually comes in a tin or jar, like Carnation brand caramel. The squeezy kind will give you a thinner frosting.
- Make salted caramel frosting by beating in ¼ teaspoon of sea salt as the final step in the recipe.
- For creamy caramel frosting, beat your butter until it's pale, light and fluffy first.
- Swap caramel for other thick sweet sauces such as dulce de leche, fudge, butterscotch or toffee.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
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