I decided to make the the alternate Wilton Course I last class cake (the one with the spray of roses) for my mom's birthday. First of all, I had a cake accident and the pan slipped. The cake was smushed and part of it fell off. I should have stopped there and made cake balls. Anyway, I was able to doctor it up and everything looked perfect after I frosted it. I then made my decorating icing. I don't know if it was replacing half of the Crisco with white Challenge butter or if I just made it too thin (class recipe with 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp butter, 1/4 tsp almond, and 5 drops of creme bouquet). The frosting was way too soupy. I tried and tried to thicken it up. I finally had what I thought was a good consistency, but the roses still were way too moist. I managed to get the whole thing done, but that icing really made a mess of things. There's a picture of the mess at the bottom of my cake page (http://www.boydandtricia.com/cakes.html). Those roses don't look anything like my pink roses and the drop flowers look awful. Ugh!
It really doesn't look bad at all in the picture! Cheer up, we're our own worst critics!
I'm no expert here but find that when I use the half-and-half crisco/butter recipe, the frosting is much softer and doesn't hold well. I like the taste so I use that recipe to ice the cake and decorate with the all-crisco recipe. I saw your cake and it's beautiful. Your borders are great. I'm sure your mother loved it and appreciated the time you spent on it. Very touching thing for a son to do for his mom! 
I think that's it Kos. I'll half and half the icing (I was really happy with the undecorated cake) and do all Crisco for decorating. That's how I got my good roses and, besides, I'm putting butter flavoring in now anyway.
I'll bet this much...I know it's gonna taste good. I ate the part of the cake that fell off and it was the gooeyest butter cake ever! Yum! And my wife and The Duke couldn't get their fingers out of the icing bowl.
Thanks everyone!!!
I had the same problem when I used half butter, but like Kos, I just used it for icing the cake, and it worked very well for the BCT. I haven't tried half butter again in a while, but next time I may just leave the water out of the recipe. Seems like it may be the water in the butter that messes the whole thing up. Not sure, but it's worth a shot. At least that way you wouldn't have to make 2 different batches of icing for 1 cake.
I have class tomorrow night and some challenge butter in the freezer, so maybe I'll give it a shot and see what happens. I'll let you know.
Ali
ps-your cake looks good anyway. you must be a perfectionist!
Boyd, I still think that it was a nice enough looking cake. I am sure that your mom loved it. We are all our own worst critics, so don't be too hard on yourself. It'll work out better the next time, I am sure.
Tanya
I've recently discovered I like making custom frostings (like a white choc. cream cheese frosting w/ almond flavoring) and then using hardcore buttercream (all shortening w/ butter flavoring added) to do the detailing if needed. Otherwise, it just doesn't hold up! I just taught a class last night and brought 2 batches of buttercream (which I had not thinned at home so I could show that in class) with half butter, half crisco. Thanks to small traces of humidity, all I had when I opened my tupperware at the class was a soupy mess. Not good. I should've known better, and now I'm kicking myself for it. That definately clinched my choice for the hardcore BC on detailing.
If you guys are using the all-crisco recipe as-is but substituting half of the crisco with butter, you're not taking into consideration that butter is comprised of up to 16% water. You must compensate by reducing your liquid additives (water, milk, cream, whatever you use).
I use the half-and-half for EVERYTHING and there is not a single technique that cannot be piped just as beautifully and with the same strength and stability as an all crisco-recipe.
I forgot to add, when using a half-and-half recipe, try to buy European-style butter (I always prefer salted over unsalted), which has a higher butterfat content and tastes so much more wonderful than something like Land O'Lakes. I usually buy Central Market brand (if I'm in Central Market or an HEB), otherwise I use Challenge butter. You'll never go back to Land O'Lakes again. 
Cake looks great.
Here is a frosting recipe you can try. It will store for a long. I love it because thier is no butter and it is great to smooth. I also have wilton recipe that uses whip cream instread of butter and I love that one too, that takes longer to crust and smooth out.
3 cups of shortening (crisco is fine, I perfer hi ratio shortening)
2 lbs of poweder sugar
1/4 cup water (adjust water stiffer frosting for borders, etc)
2 tsp of flavoring (you can go 1tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond, or 2 tsp of butter
or you can use the lorann oils which ever you like)
beat shortening for a few seconds; add sugar and mix. then add water and your choice of flavoring.
You cake looks fine, but I understand what you mean. My kitchen stays way too hot. My decorations start out fine, but spread due to the heat/humidity. I think I will try to learn how to use the sugarpaste/gumpaste/whatever you call it. 
None of us want to eat crisco flowers (ick!) so I might was well make them out of just sugar.
Please keep sharing with us as you learn!
I once in a while will use the wilton snow white buttercream frosting.
The reason I like this, it is great for flowers. You flowers will become hard, roses will take a few days to air dry. I do not frost cakes with this but for drop flowers, roses and few other flowers it is great. You can store the flowers in containers and have them handy for quick cakes.
http://www.wilton.com/recipes/recipesandprojects/icing/snow.cfm
Cakepro - is the CM brand butter way different from the HEB brand? I used to buy HEB for the price, but it's just not that great in quality. I figured the CM brand was the same, just packaged different at a higher price.
Also, is it better than the Challenge butter?
Ali
I decided to make the the alternate Wilton Course I last class cake (the one with the spray of roses) for my mom's birthday. First of all, I had a cake accident and the pan slipped. The cake was smushed and part of it fell off. I should have stopped there and made cake balls. Anyway, I was able to doctor it up and everything looked perfect after I frosted it. I then made my decorating icing. I don't know if it was replacing half of the Crisco with white Challenge butter or if I just made it too thin (class recipe with 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp butter, 1/4 tsp almond, and 5 drops of creme bouquet). The frosting was way too soupy. I tried and tried to thicken it up. I finally had what I thought was a good consistency, but the roses still were way too moist. I managed to get the whole thing done, but that icing really made a mess of things. There's a picture of the mess at the bottom of my cake page (http://www.boydandtricia.com/cakes.html). Those roses don't look anything like my pink roses and the drop flowers look awful. Ugh!
Well, I think it still looks very good!
Being a Canuck here, is "white Challenge Butter" a spreadable butter? IF so, it may have a higher moisture content than regular butter which would tend to make a runnier icing. Most people do have an easier time decorating with the all shortening class buttercream, but use the half butter half shortening icing to flat ice the cake.
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes
I agree with the ones that say to use the 1/2 crisco and 1/2 butter for base icing and use all crisco for the decorations. I have tried several recipes that include butter (one that does not include water/milk at all) and it was still very soft. Tastes great but not easy to work with on the flowers, borders, etc.
I do think your cake looks good. Just relax. We are all doing this for fun and because we love it, right?!
Cindy
I don't understand why so many people say they fail to pipe well with the half-and-half recipe.
If you work slowly or if you overload your bag, the heat from your hand is going to melt the butter (obviously) Other than heat issues or using too much liquid, I find it really bizarre so many of you make an extra batch of icing just for piping.
Squirrelly Cakes,
Challenge is the brand name, it's just a smallish California dairy that produces a pretty high quality butter without any coloring at a (surprise!) reasonable price. Their products are sold in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The regular unsalted butter is 80% butterfat. I haven't seen their spreadable butter, although according to the website they have one, and I probably wouldn't use spreadable butter for icing anyway.
I just made a batch using the Wilton class recipe, but half butter and omitting the liquid.
1/2 c shortening
1/2 c butter
1 t. flavoring
1 T meringue powder
pinch salt (opt)
I wound up with a very stiff icing and had to add almost 2 T water (5 t) back in just to get to a regular stiff consistency. The last time I made this that it turned out runny, I used a store brand butter. Of course, icing consistency is still one of my weak points in decorating, but I have my first class for Course II tomorrow so I'll get some good feedback from the instructor. I'll let you guys know how it does for decorations.
Ali
Well, haha, I use the half salted butter and half shortening recipe, I use an extra cup of icing sugar and I use cream and milk as my liquids. I don't have trouble with it but many folks cannot get it to the right consistency to make their roses. Personally I recommend to beginners to use their class icing recipe for roses and leaves and to use this other recipe for everything else until they are used to piping roses and leaves. My youngest, who worked as a cake decorator in a bakery had trouble making roses and leaves from my icing recipe, but not other things. I think it may be all in what you get used to, but when folks ask for the best tasting recipe, I give them mine or a variation of it. When they are having trouble with piping roses and leaves I tell them to use their class recipe.
I have friends that can pipe a perfect buttercream rose with just about anything, likely drywall compound or latex caulking would work for them. I personally prefer gumpaste or fondant roses and never make buttercream ones anymore, so I would likely be like a beginner, myself.
I just don't like the taste of an all shortening icing, I cannot stand artificial clear vanilla and I don't like using water as my liquid in icing, that is just me.
Whatever works for folks is what they are best off doing!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes
Cakepro: Until the weather cools, I won't know if it's just my kitchen or the 1/2 butter recipe is too soft for piping. I have just now realized that I need to trash the disposable bags I'd bought. They warm up much too quickly. I'm a newbie so I do pipe slowly.
How much liquid do you add to your 1/2 and 1/2 frosting? Do you add meringue poweder or eggwhite? TIA
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