Caramel Icing (with PHOTO)

When I first made this recipe of caramel icing, the ingredient amounts were doubled and I didn't want that much!  So, I've cut the ingredient amounts (below)in half and this makes just enough for a 'modest' layer spread over a 9x13-inch cake. 

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter
1
1 tablespoons light corn syrup (like Karo)
1 very tiny pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients in a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat while constantly stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan. Do this until you get the desired caramel color/flavor.  (I let it get hot enough to do a 'bubbly boil' and maintained that 'bubbly boil" for about six minutes.  Your time may be different.)  The picture below shows the color of it when I took it off the heat... 

Using my hand mixer (on high speed), I beat it until thick enough to spread over cake.  I stopped beating it when it was just stiff enough to keep little designs in it for a while before it leveled out again... like in the next photo:

Below: Before pouring the caramel icing on the still-very-warm German Chocolate cake, I poked some holes into its top with a dinner fork (mainly so the icing has a better 'grip'):

After leveling the icing and sprinkling a crushed mini-sized Baby Ruth candy bar on the top, it leveled out like this...