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!
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!
Reader Lucia Commented: I made this frosting over a Caramel Mud Cake! It was easy and so delicious! ★★★★★
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?
Email Me The Link
I'll email this post to you, so you can easily find it later. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
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!)
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.
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.
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!
Creamy Caramel Sweetened Condensed Milk Frosting
Ingredients
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ½ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
Instructions
- In a saucepan, bring 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk, ¾ cup light brown sugar and ½ cup 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.
- 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.
- Whip 8 oz cream cheese and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Add cooled caramel mixture and beat for at least a couple of minutes.
- Spread over cooled cake.
Video
Email Me The Link
I’ll email this post to you, so you can easily find it later. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
Did you try this recipe?
Don’t forget to leave a rating below and make sure to follow on Pinterest and Instagram for more!
Get social!
Recipes in your inbox
I prefer taking the time to cook real caramel. This is tooooo cream cheesy.
I love cream cheese but, not in this recipe. I have enjoyed other of your recipes and will continue to use them but this is just not hitting the mark.
Sorry,
Sue
I’m sorry this wasn’t the one for you.
Does this cake have to be refrigerated because of the cream cheese in the icing?
It should be kept in the refrigerator. It can sit out for a couple of hours, but not much longer than that.
Could I add icing sugar after to get it a more fluffier texture
You can. I would taste as you go to make sure it doesn’t get too sweet and maybe add a little more salt to help balance it out.
Would you recommend making this icing the day before or day of before serving it for a birthday
I would make it the day of if you can, but the day before is fine.
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
That sounds delicious
Going to make this today to level up my caramel pecan mini bundts. Do you recommend light or dark brown sugar?
I usually use light brown sugar. Dark would be good if you like a deeper flavor.
You use salted or unsalted butter?
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.
@Jackie D Wooten, will this recipe frost a layer 9-inch cake?
Yes, it is the perfect amount for a two layer 9 inch cake
Hi there Carlee, I’m wondering if I could add some salt to this to turn it into a salted caramel frosting?
I don’t see why not. That would be delicious!
This frosting is fabulous! I made it and put it on a brown sugar “mud cake”. Yum! Yum!
Yay! I am so glad you liked it!
Does the cream cheese have to be room temperature before you mix it with the rest of the ingredients? Thanks! I’m trying this recipe for my caramel cake
Yes, let it come to room temperature so it is nice and soft. It will incorporate much easier that way. If you try it when the cream cheese is cold you will likely get little lumps of cream cheese in your frosting. I hope you love it!