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Creamy Caramel Sweetened Condensed Milk Frosting

Thanks for sharing!

This creamy caramel frosting comes together really easily and starts with a can of sweetened condensed milk to make it extra special. It is a great way to make a caramel frosting for your favorite cakes!

A round layer cake covered in caramel sweetened condensed milk frosting and large flakes of toasted coconut

Caramel frosting is perfect to go with so many different flavors of cakes. Chocolate of course comes to mind, but it’s also great with banana, vanilla, carrot, and so much more.

This version is super creamy, soft and luscious.  It is one your will instantly fall in love with.  Whip up a batch to see for yourself!

Creamy.  Caramelly.  Luscious. Frosting.

Need I say more?
Probably not, but we both know I’m going to!

Ingredients ready to be made into caramel condensed milk frosting.

I really think I’d be ok in life with three cake recipes. A good butter cake, a perfect chocolate cake and a yummy strawberry cake could get me through most situations.

Don’t get me wrong, I love trying all of the recipes and flavors I can. I mean, do I look like somebody who says no to cake?!

Spoiler alert: I do not say no to cake. Are you kidding me?

Cooked and cooled brown sugar, butter and condensed milk mixture with spatula showing how thick it is.
The cooled caramel mixture should be pretty thick like pictured

But really for me it’s all about the frosting.  I can never have too many frosting recipes.

So when I offered to bring a cake to a family gathering at my mother-in-law’s, I was quick to pull up my old tried and true devilishly good chocolate cake.  (My phone is probably sick of pulling up that recipe, I seem to be going back to it all of the time!)

caramel frosting on a mixer beater

I thought a delicious caramel frosting would be the way to go. I think I might be going through a phase after the rolo poke cake!

Now I happen to have two caramel frosting recipes on the blog already. One is made with brown sugar and is perfect on Di’s banana cake.

The other caramelizes granulated sugar for a traditional Southern style caramel cake. Both are delicious, but neither were what I had in mind.

slice of layered chocolate cake with creamy caramel sweetened condensed milk frosting on it.

So I took elements of those and added a nod toward German chocolate cake. Of course a bit of cream cheese never hurt a frosting, so I added some of that as well. The result was even better than I had imagined.

This frosting is so smooth and creamy. It is just sweet enough with those warm caramel tones. The best part is the texture.

It is almost like the caramel version of my shiny fudge frosting in that respect. It’s got a little bit of sheen to it and spreads like a dream.

layer cake with sweetened condensed milk frosting topped with toasted coconut

While completely unnecessary, I couldn’t help but to toast some coconut flakes and sprinkle them on top. I guess I was still feeling inspired by German chocolate cake.

This frosting is one of my new favorites! But if you are looking for other sweetened condensed milk frosting ideas you can try my chocolate sweetened condensed milk frosting or sweetened condensed milk buttercream!

    You know I’m always ready to try more frosting recipes. What are your favorites?

Love this recipe? Give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review in the recipe card below!

Yield: 24 Servings

Creamy Caramel Sweetened Condensed Milk Frosting

layer cake with sweetened condensed milk frosting topped with toasted coconut

This creamy caramel frosting comes together really easily and starts with a can of sweetened condensed milk to make it extra special. It is a great way to make a caramel frosting for your favorite cakes!

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened

Instructions

  1. In a saucepan, bring the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar and butter to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly and allow to boil for 3-5 minutes. The frosting should be like a thick pudding.
  2. Cool caramel mixture to room temperature. This may take a while, but you can put it in the refrigerator to speed the process if you want to. When cooled, it should be thick enough to almost hold it's shape. See the picture in the post for reference.
  3. Whip cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Add cooled caramel mixture and beat for at least a couple of minutes.
  4. Spread over cooled cake.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 161Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 90mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 0gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g

All nutritional information is estimated and will depend on the exact ingredients you use.

Did you make this recipe?

I'd love to see it! Share a picture on Instagram or Pinterest and tag me @carleecooks to let me know how it went!

collage of caramel frosting pics

Thanks for sharing!

Cheryl Gibbons

Sunday 12th of February 2023

Yes I made a yellow cake then I took chocolate chips and put down into cake . Meanwhile I started n carmel then spoon the hot mixture over chocolate chips and smeared it with a butter knife. Put it in frig. to cool .while the other cooled.After cooled added vanilla and cream cheese.Whipped it all together then frosted cake. And serve

Carlee

Sunday 12th of February 2023

That sounds delicious

Adrienne

Tuesday 17th of May 2022

Going to make this today to level up my caramel pecan mini bundts. Do you recommend light or dark brown sugar?

Carlee

Tuesday 17th of May 2022

I usually use light brown sugar. Dark would be good if you like a deeper flavor.

Jackie D Wooten

Monday 6th of December 2021

You use salted or unsalted butter?

Jackie D Wooten

Thursday 9th of December 2021

@Jackie D Wooten, will this recipe frost a layer 9-inch cake?

Carlee

Monday 6th of December 2021

I have used both with great results. If you like salted caramel, go ahead and use salted or you can use unsalted and add a pinch of salt.

Kay

Wednesday 8th of September 2021

Hi there Carlee, I'm wondering if I could add some salt to this to turn it into a salted caramel frosting?

Carlee

Wednesday 8th of September 2021

I don't see why not. That would be delicious!

Carla

Monday 26th of April 2021

This frosting is fabulous! I made it and put it on a brown sugar "mud cake". Yum! Yum!

Carlee

Tuesday 27th of April 2021

Yay! I am so glad you liked it!

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