So while I’m going to give you something scrumptious to slather this brown sugar frosting on next week, this is so deliciously versatile, you can use it on a lot of things. This style of frosting is called penuche, and it starts with a very simple caramel made of brown sugar, butter, and cream or milk. Then a few extra ingredients turn it into a lusciously rich frosting with warm notes that are perfect for autumn. We actually have this caramel cake with a penuche frosting on it waaaaay back in our archives. I actually forgot this existed. Old photos, delicious cake!
how to make it
This could not be easier! Just dump a few simple ingredients in a pot on your stovetop: real butter, brown sugar (you can use dark or light), a little cream- or milk works, too, and salt.
After it comes to a simmer for just a couple of minutes, you can pour it into a mixing bowl to cool. I let it sit for about 10 minutes, until it’s just luke warm and has thickened up a bit, but isn’t totally cooled.
If you wait until it’s all the way cooled, it will be too thick to mix up into frosting and be difficult to spread. Just warm, and it’s glorious.
Add in a little powdered sugar and whip it up.
I like this frosting on the softer side. As I mentioned, it will thicken a little after it stands, so avoid adding so much sugar that it gets stiff (and also overly sweet).
It’s so rich and caramel-y and you can drench it over so many things. We ate it on graham crackers last night and it was sooooo good. It goes especially well with things like banana bread, apple or pumpkin cake, or drizzled over cinnamon rolls. As mentioned, I’m going to give you something to spread this on next week (besides your fingers. You can do that today.)
