I have always used the Wilton butter/shortning recipe for my cakes. I have never had anyone tell me that they didn't like it, in fact I have had people say that they love it. But I like to chalenge myself, I would like to try something different. Do you have any suggestions? (I have never worked with fondant and I plan to try for Mother's day.) As for frosting what to you like to use and tastes wonderful? Any recipes on CC? Suggestions would be very helpful! Thanks in advance!

If you go to LadyCakes.com there is a recipe called, I believe, Flour Buttercream. It is fantastic. It's not as cloying as the Wilton recipe.

Why not give Swiss Meringue, or Italian Meringue Buttercream a try? I used the Wilton recipe for years until I tried SMBC, and haven't looked back. Here's a link to a couple recipes in the section (I'm sure there are more if you poke around a bit):
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2426-Italian-Meringue-Buttercream--Shirleys-Method.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-5453-The-Well-Dressed-Cake-Swiss-Meringue-Buttercream-with-variations.html

I'm partial to the Swiss Meringue, but only because I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to melting sugar.

Indebi's BC is very good and crust very well making it easy to smooth. It's in teh recipe section and maybe still on the front page of CC.

I'm with Tiggy IndyDebi's buttercream had never let me down, and you can use creamers, and difference flavorings to change it, and it does wonderfully. She finally put it in the Recipe Section! Woo Hoo!

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-6992-Indydebis-Crisco-Based-Buttercream-Icing.html