This salted caramel buttercream frosting recipe is made with just 6 simple ingredients, and is ready to pipe in only 10 minutes. A butter base is whipped with real caramel sauce and powdered sugar – it transforms into sweet goodness that goes with your favorite cakes and can be used with any recipe that calls for American buttercream.
The caramel flavor makes the perfect frosting to level up your standard white cupcakes, classic chocolate cake, and even works well between cake layers. During the holiday season, we use this creamy caramel frosting every chance we get because it pairs so well with most seasonal desserts – think apple flavors, pumpkin, and especially chocolate!
Anytime we have leftover caramel sauce we like using it to fill salted caramel cupcakes, drizzle over pumpkin cake or pumpkin bread pudding, or make copycat Starbucks drinks.
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🧁 Ingredients:
- salted butter – allow it to soften at room temperature before mixing. If using unsalted butter, you may need to add a pinch of salt.
- vanilla extract – adds more of a complex flavor profile to the frosting.
- powdered sugar – sweetens the buttercream and creates texture. More or less can be added based on your preference.
- caramel – we like using our own homemade caramel sauce. Either our easy brown sugar caramel sauce or our dark caramel sauce made by caramelizing granulated sugar make the best caramel buttercream, but store-bought caramel sauce will work too. Sometimes store bought caramel sauce is thinner or has artificial flavoring, so choose a high quality caramel sauce and adjust the portions to get a nice pipe-able texture to the finished caramel frosting.
- heavy whipping cream – gives the frosting a rich, creamy flavor while also helping with consistency.
- flakey sea salt – Maldon’s is our favorite to use.
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Optional Garnish:
You can use this easy caramel buttercream frosting recipe to jazz up any plain flavor vanilla cake, chocolate cupcakes, or layer cakes. It is the recipe we use with our salted caramel layer cake.
Substitutions and Variations
- Homemade salted caramel sauce – I have a brown sugar caramel sauce that is very simple to make that we like adding to the frosting. If you prefer dark caramel instead, that will work too. The dark caramel recipe is more traditional and is made with corn syrup.
- Caramel Swiss Meringue Buttercream – beat in ½ cup of the salted caramel recipe to the Swiss Meringue buttercream. This frosting is less sweet than American-style buttercream.
- Italian Meringue Caramel Buttercream – whip in ½ – 1 cup of caramel to Italian meringue buttercream frosting.
- American Buttercream – if you’re looking for a sweeter, less complicated recipe, try our American Buttercream..
🔪 Instructions:
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl or in a bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and vanilla at medium speed until it’s smooth and creamy.
Step 2: Add half of the powdered sugar and beat with the paddle attachment until combined on low speed. Repeat with the remaining half of the sugar, then increase the speed to finish mixing. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Pro Tip: Sifting the powdered sugar before adding to the mixing bowl will keep the frosting smooth and reduce lumps.
Step 3: While the electric mixer is running, whip in the caramel sauce.
Step 4: Pour in the heavy cream and continue beating at medium-high speed until the caramel icing is fluffy.
SERVE: Whip the sea salt into the frosting and transfer to a piping bag using a silicone spatula to start decorating. You can also sprinkle the salt over the top of your baked goods. A little bit goes a long way.
Recipe Tips for Caramel Buttercream Frosting
- If you are making homemade caramel, be sure to use a candy thermometer to monitor temperature because it can burn quickly. You do not need a candy thermometer for our brown sugar caramel sauce.
- Store bought caramel can be found at any grocery store, usually in the ice cream section with other sundae toppings. Remember to choose a thicker caramel sauce and look for one that doesn’t have artificial flavoring for the best results.
- If the frosting is too thin, add more powdered sugar. If your butter becomes too soft or you’re working on a warm day, you can also pop the mixing bowl into the refrigerator for 15-30 minutes and then re-beat the frosting. This will harden the butter some and firm up the texture of the frosting. If it’s too thick, add a little more cream.
Fun Fact
Butterscotch and toffee is made very similar to caramel using the same ingredients but are cooked at different times and temperatures. -Southern Caramel
Recipe FAQs
You can store caramel buttercream icing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 7 days or in the freezer for 3 months. Before adding to baked goods, use a hand mixer to whip for a couple of minutes.
Add a small amount of powdered sugar to the frosting at a time to thicken up if needed. Don’t go overboard, as it could possibly change the texture and make the icing grainy or overly sweet. Chilling the frosting in the refrigerator will firm up the butter and thicken the texture substantially without the need to add too much powdered sugar.
The caramel flavor goes great with just about any vanilla and chocolate cake. You can also add it to pumpkin flavored cakes, apple, and other spiced cake varieties.
More of Our Favorite Frosting Recipes
If you tried this Caramel Buttercream Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Caramel Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups salted butter softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 cups powdered sugar
- ⅔ cup caramel salted caramel works too
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- flakey sea salt such as Maldon’s
Instructions
- Beat together butter and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
- Add powdered sugar, half at a time, and beat until fully mixed (mixture will be thick).
- Add caramel while the beater is running and whip until smooth.
- Add heavy cream and continue beating until frosting is fluffy. Add additional cream and beat until desired consistency is achieved.
- Use flakey sea salt to sprinkle over frosted baked goods or whip some into the frosting. Just a pinch goes a long way.
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