Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

This salted caramel buttercream frosting is simple and easy, perfect for decorating any cake!

Total Time

35min

0.0

0 Ratings

Author: Chelsweets

Servings:

Ingredients

Caramel Sauce

•

1/2 cup

Granulated Sugar

•

3 Tbsp

Unsalted Butter , room temperature

•

4 Tbsp

Heavy Cream , room temperature

Salted Caramel Frosting

•

2 cups

Unsalted Butter , room temperature

•

8 cups

Powdered Confectioners Sugar

•

1 tsp

Salt

•

1 Tbsp

Heavy Cream

or Whipping Cream

•

1 tsp

Vanilla Extract

Cooking Instructions

Begin by making the caramel sauce. Place a pot on the stove over medium heat. Pour in Granulated Sugar (1/2 cup) gradually, adding 1/4 cup at a time. Wait until the sugar is mostly liquified, then add the remaining sugar. As the sugar melts, it will gradually deepen in color. Stir occasionally until the sugar is fully dissolved, and is an amber color.

Turn off the heat. Mix in Unsalted Butter (3 Tbsp) slowly (1 Tbsp at a time), then stir in the Heavy Cream (4 Tbsp) . The mixture will be very thin but will thicken as it cools.

Pour into a separate container, then place in the fridge to cool for 20 minutes.

Once the caramel sauce is almost done cooling, make the caramel buttercream. Beat the Unsalted Butter (2 cups) on medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle or whisk attachment, until smooth.

Slowly add in the Powdered Confectioners Sugar (8 cups) , 1 cup at a time. Alternate with the Heavy Cream (1 Tbsp) .

Mix in the Vanilla Extract (1 tsp) and Salt (1 tsp) at low speed. Add ⅓ cup of the caramel sauce in total, which will help thin the frosting. Beat on low until the ingredients are fully incorporated, and the desired consistency is reached.

Author's Notes

The caramel sauce recipe will yield about 3/4 of a cup of caramel, but you will only need 1/3 cup for this salted caramel buttercream. It's hard to make that small of a batch though, so I prefer to make enough to have some leftovers for topping ice cream or cupcakes!

This caramel will keep for several weeks in the fridge. I usually store it in a plastic bottle (and pop it into the microwave to reheat it), but any airtight container would work great!

Paddle Attachment vs. Whisk Attachment
Either a paddle or whisk attachment can be used to make this frosting. I like to use my paddle attachment when making frosting for a cake, to minimize the amount of air that is incorporated into the frosting. This makes silky-smooth frosting, which is easier to smooth onto cakes.
I use my whisk attachment when making frosting for cupcakes, which I like to be light and fluffy! I like to incorporate air into frosting for cupcakes because I usually pipe massive swirls onto each cupcake.

Nutrition Per Serving

CALORIES

640

FAT

34.3 g

PROTEIN

0.0 g

CARBS

82.1 g