I've been making different frosting for a while yet I can't seem to make one that's taste amazing yet non costly...

What I've made:

Italian buttercream

Homemade whip bream

Regular butter cream

Cream cheese

French buttercream 

How is the cloud frosting and marshmallow fluff???

Do they crust when sitting???

Can I add nuts...crumbles of cookies without breakage???

Sometimes I  use Swiss Meringue ( Swiss meringue buttercream without butter), but it looks ugly when trying to smooth out,   so I use tip to decorate. 

Whipped ganche, poured ganache, Heirloom (Ermine) cooked flour icing, poured fondant (old school), SMBC,

Seven minute frosting as @Natka81 ‍ said, that's what it was called when my mom made it.  It's just SMBC without the butter,

 faux Italian buttercream (AMBC with a jar of marshmallow cream whipped in.)  And there is a lot of variety in how to make each recipe such as AMBC with all Crisco, all Hi-Ratio shortening, all butter, half butter etc etc.

My fav is the cooked flour frosting...easy, tastes great...less sweet than Italian/Swiss meringue bc. I do add a cup of icing sugar and some meringue powder to recipe..helps to crust faster, and pipe. You can add anything..crushed nuts, cookie crumbs...etc. 

In my area people are more concerned with price than having a nice meringue. So I've been trying Sam's jug'o buttercream. It's a little whippy for my tastes sometimes so I beat it well, add a little cream, flavorings I like and powdered sugar to firm it up for filling. It's cheap and tastes good once I add my choice of flavorings and the cream makes it super smooth, crust well and firm when chilled.

I think all you need to do is increase your flavoring.  Use as much as 2 Tablespoons flavoring per batch using 2 lbs of sugar.  And it's best if you use 3 flavorings mixed together.  My favorite is vanilla, almond, and butter.  You can make it up in any volumn you want but keep a ratio of 1 part, 1/2, and 1/4 part.   In other words using tablespoons use 1 of vanilla, 1/2 tablespoon butter and 1/4 tablespoon almond.   Some people I know used lemon instead of almond.  Others leave it out all together, but you lose the complexity of the flavor.  Using just 1 flavor kind of leaves it flat. 

IDK if you have used this but I kinda tweaked it some lol not been doing my own frostings for very long so I'm still learning lol

12 oz choc chips semi sweet is my fav.

4oz sweetened milk

1 tsp van ext

heavy cream to desired smooth and texture

cornstarch or powdered sugar for thickening if needed

melt choc chips in a bowl let come to room temp then place into mixer, add the 4 oz of sweetened milk, mix will add van ext. mix it becomes thick so begin to add the heavy cream until its a nice creamy consistency usually about 1/4 cup or less let sit in fridge for 20 mins and then remix it will be nice and thick if its still not your consistency just add cornstarch or ps ....this is the cupcakes I made using this frosting (just used diff types of choc chips milk semi sweet white even butterscotch and peanut butter is great! hope this give you more ideas :)[postimage id="2545" thumb="900"]