One of my favorite things to do with my homemade salted caramel recipe is incorporate it into buttercream. It ends up being such an awesome blend of sweet and salty, perfect for topping cakes and cupcakes or using as a cake filling. It can transform basic cake flavors like chocolate and vanilla into something above and beyond, and it also adds complexity to Fall-inspired flavors like apple spice cake. Whatever flavors you love pairing with caramel, this salted caramel buttercream is magic!
It all starts with a great homemade salted caramel recipe, like this one. It’s only four ingredients, easy as can be, and you don’t even need a candy thermometer to make it! Making the salted caramel from scratch is the key to this beautiful caramel buttercream flavor, so if you have your own favorite salted caramel recipe, feel free to incorporate it into the buttercream recipe below. Just avoid premade salted caramel sauces that tend to be overly sweet, because they might send the sweetness level of this buttercream way over the top.
When you’ve got your salted caramel made and ready to go, make sure you give it enough time for cooling to room temperature before you add it into the buttercream recipe. It’ll be very hot and runny when you remove it from the stove, and allowing it to cool will not only ensure that your buttercream doesn’t melt into soup, but the caramel will get thicker and more flavorful as it sets. If you prefer to make the salted caramel ahead of time, that’s fine too! You can store it in the refrigerator for up to two weeks in an airtight container, then when you’re ready to make the buttercream, just microwave it in 15 second intervals to bring it back to room temperature.
Once your ingredients are all room temperature and ready to go, all you need is a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and about fifteen minutes from start to finish. The process is about as basic as it gets when it comes to an American buttercream recipe, but the end result is buttery salted caramel magic that you’ll want to eat by the spoonful!
Salted Caramel Buttercream
Ingredients
- 1 Cup (226g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 1/2 Cups (420g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 Cup (120ml) salted caramel, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter on high until it’s creamy and light in color, 5-6 minutes.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar a few cups at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each interval.
- With the mixer still on low, mix in the vanilla extract, the salted caramel, and salt. Continue mixing on low speed until fully combined.
Notes
- Frost 12-15 cupcakes with a piping bag
- Fill and crumb coat a three-layer 6-inch cake or two-layer 8-inch cake. To have enough for frosting and decorating as well, double the recipe.
Hello! Can I substitute butter with margarine? It’s hot where I live and margarine has higher melting point.
Hi Coco! I’ve never tried this recipe with margarine so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out but my guess is that it should work. Let me know how it goes if you try it!
Thank you for the recipe — the frosting came out easy, tasty and wonderful. But what truly baffles me is the amount of powdered sugar. I used less than half of the recipt amount (220 gr) and coupled with the caramel sauce, the buttercream turned out super-sweet. In fact, it’s hard for me to believe that anyone would want it even sweeter! Is there a purpose why the amount of powdered sugar is twice that of butter? Does it make the consistency firmer or smth like that? Thank you.
Hi Tatyana! This frosting is pretty sweet, but it seems to be well-loved as-is. The purpose of the powdered sugar is mainly to provide stability, but if you’re getting a stable enough buttercream consistency and good flavor with half the amount of powdered sugar, then you can keep it up with the adapted version.
This buttercream is probably the bast salted Carmel buttercream I’ve ever made!
Yay, Sydney! I’m so happy to hear that!
Would this buttercream with caramel hold up in heat and humidity for an outdoor wedding??
Hi Cindy! It depends on how warm/humid it is. Buttercream starts to really soften above 75 degrees, so I recommend storing the cake in the refrigerator until it needs to be on display at the wedding. This way it will take much longer to reach a melting/softening point.
Hi Whitney!
I’m a hobby baker and I absolutely love your channel, tips and recipes! I’m about the give this one a try…. does it pipe well on cupcakes?
Regards
Angie
Yay, Angie! Thanks for the kind words 🙂 This recipe pipes beautifully on cupcakes. Enjoy!
Hi Whitney!
I actually came across the pic for this recipe on Pinterest – but when I clicked on the link to your site it just gave me a blank page. Repeatedly.
I tried numerous times – going to other sites in between – but kept getting the same blank page.
I ended up having to Google you to get to this recipe. Not sure what the problem is – but maybe talk to the folks at Pinterest?
It looks like a great recipe – so thanks! I’m sure I’ll revisit.
Hi Terry! The thing about Pinterest is that anyone can make a Pin using one of my images and then butcher the web address or forget to put it in. That’s why I put my watermark on my images just in case something like that happens! It’s hard to track the broken linked Pins but I’m so happy you ended up on the right page. Enjoy this recipe!
I Love It so yummy! Thank you
So happy to hear that, Kristy!
Hi
For the caramel, do you use like caramel sauce ( the kind that you would put ontop ice cream) or caramel chews or caramel bits, thanks
Hi Joy! I always make homemade caramel sauce to use in this recipe (it’s linked in the recipe portion of this post). You can certainly try using those other options, but just make sure you like the taste, as the caramel sauce you use will end up flavoring the buttercream.
I made a bagel version of this with Earth Balance sticks and this caramel sauce: https://www.amazon.com/Coconut-Caramel-Sauce-Hey-Boo/dp/B00IOQDZSG
It came out SO GOOD! Fantastic recipe.
That’s so awesome, Kat! Happy to hear it was a hit!
Love this recipe, thank you for sharing!
Yay, Lisa! So happy to hear you love this recipe!
I made this yesterday to frost vanilla cupcakes for my daughter’s birthday. It was delicious! Our whole family loved it! I was skeptical that the caramel would integrate well in the buttercream because it was not very liquidy after cooling, but it did so beautifully. The pinch of salt in the buttercream really enhanced the flavor. Excellent recipe that we will make again!
Yay, Melissa! I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit! It’s one of my very faves 🙂
Would this frosting fare well with a 3 layer 6 inch snickerdoodle cake?
I’m sure that would taste amazing, Becci!
Oh. My. Goodness!! Earlier I made the salted caramel (and left rave reviews) and I just finished making this to frost my dark chocolate cake and this is perfection! I could literally eat this buttercream by itself! I was in search of fall flavors to go with a large batch of apple cider and this buttercream + cake go perfectly!! Thank you!!
Ahhh so happy you love the salted caramel buttercream! I feel the same way about it – I could eat it by the spoonful. That flavor combo sounds delicious! Thanks for taking the time to let me know it was a hit!
Hi Whitney! I just made this and piped on Spice Apple Cupcakes and drizzled extra caramel on top for Caramel Apple Cupcakes! DELICIOUS. Should I keep them in the refrigerator until my event tomorrow? (some do not have caramel drizzle, just the buttercream)
Thanks!
Such a great flavor pairing, Debi! Yum!! You don’t need to store the cupcakes in the refrigerator, they’ll be fine at room temperature overnight due to the high sugar content, which preserves the tiny bit of dairy in this recipe.
Hello! I’m going to make this today but I have a really thick dulce de leche. Will this work or I have to thin it out?
Hi Aleyka, I have never tried this recipe with anything but the above ingredients. I’m not sure that dulce de leche will work in place of the heavy whipping cream, but you are welcome to try it!