Salted Caramel FrostingBarefeet In The Kitchen

I knew before I made this frosting that {Salted + Caramel = Frosting} it was going to be a good thing. However, I had no clue that it was going to be a great thing: an almost indescribably awesome frosting. I'm not usually a big fan of frosting, but I am a huge fan of homemade caramel sauce. So, pouring caramel sauce into a whipped cream cheese frosting sounded too delicious not to try.

I paired this frosting with chocolate cupcakes and the best gluten free chocolate cake that you can imagine. The combination of caramel and chocolate was everything I wanted it to be. I have to admit that one of my favorite things about this frosting is that it requires nothing fancier than a knife to decorate the cupcakes. No piping tools were required and the frosting stayed soft enough to look pretty without any effort or skill on my part.

Salted Caramel Frosting
recipe inspired by Eats Well With Others and adapted from Life on Blackberry Farm
Yield: about 3 cups

1 cup butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup salted caramel sauce (recipe below)

Beat the butter and cream cheese together at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the powdered sugar and beat to combine. Add 1 cup of room temperature caramel sauce and beat again to combine. Slather this on top of anything and everything you'd like. Enjoy!

Homemade Caramel Sauce is one of the most popular recipes on my site. I've added just a touch more salt to the recipe this time for the frosting and I like the difference it makes in the sauce. Enjoy!

Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce
Yield: about 1 1/2 cups

1 cup sugar
1/4 water
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and the water. Stir to combine and then cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves; about 4-5 minutes. There is no need to stir, simply swirl the pan over the burner occasionally as the sugar dissolves.

Raise the heat to medium high and cook the sauce, swirling the pan occasionally, until it is amber colored; about 7-8 minutes. Add the butter, be prepared for it to bubble and sputter, lightly stir with a wooden spatula, do not scrape the sides of the pan or splash sauce up the sides of the pan. (This will cause crystallization, if you scrape the uncooked sugars back into the sauce.)

Once the butter is melted, remove from the heat and add the vanilla, heavy cream and salt. It will bubble again, but will calm quickly. Stir to combine (again, not scraping sides of the pan) and then let cool before transferring to a jar and refrigerating for storage. Enjoy!