An Easy and Delicious 4-Ingredient Frosting Recipe

Last Updated on September 2, 2025 by Stacy Averette

Hello, my new favorite sugary goodness. Penuche, where have you been all my life? I’d never heard of this easy and delicious 4-ingredient concoction until yesterday, and it has definitely made it into my dessert recipe binder. (Yes, I have a special binder for dessert recipes. It’s my favorite food group!)

Penuche (pronounced \pa-noo-chee\) very much resembles the caramel frosting that my grandmother used to make. I have never been able to perfect that recipe, particularly the part where you wait until the precise moment that it’s just thin enough to pour over the cake and just thick enough to harden and actually stay on the cake. It seems to be one of mawmaw’s many special gifts.

This recipe is just as tasty, requires fewer ingredients, and is foolproof.

A Happy Accident

I discovered this recipe by accident. The Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Mocha cake was ready to be frosted for an after-church treat when I realized that I didn’t have enough sugar for my frosting recipe. Well, actually, I had enough sugar, but then there wouldn’t have been enough sugar for sweet tea. Need I say more? Tomorrow is grocery shopping day, so I make do. I even made substitutions to the recipe below.

The last few pages of The Cake Mix Doctor book contain several recipes for frostings and glazes. I don’t think I’ve ever used any recipe in this book, but I might after finding this one. This recipe makes 3 cups, has four ingredients, and takes 10 minutes to prepare.

Penuche Recipe

1 cup packed light brown sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter  (I used ½ stick salted and ½ stick unsalted—it was all I had)

¼ cup whole milk (I was out of milk, so I used ¼ cup of hazelnut-flavored coffee creamer that my neighbor had given me. Her hubby bought the wrong kind. We don’t use flavored creamer, so I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I think it was better than milk would have been!)

2 cups confectioners’ sugar,  sifted

1. Combine brown sugar and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer and stir constantly until well combined.  Carefully pour in the milk, stirring, and bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
2. Place the confectioners’ sugar in a large mixing bowl. Pour the hot brown sugar mixture over the confectioners’ sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on low until frosting is smooth and creamy.
3. Use immediately on the cake since it hardens quickly. If the frosting hardens before you pour it on the cake, reheat it over low heat until it softens.

This recipe made just enough for a perfectly thick layer on a 9×13 cake. I would definitely double it if I were planning to use it on a layer cake. I think I would also make it in two separate batches since it hardens so quickly.

Delicious!

You might be tempted to eat it with a spoon straight out of the mixing bowl. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Have you heard of Penuche before? Let me know if you make it and how you like it!