My First Attempt At Making Bc Went Bad....
Decorating By Sceona Updated 27 Oct 2006 , 2:15am by JanH
So, I'm very new to the whole cake thing and I decided to try to make and decorate a cake with BC, I followed a recipe from this site and it asked for 1 1/2 cup crisco and when I was finished with it, the crisco was the only thing you can taste. What recipe does everyone use? I also tried to cover my cake then just to practice covering it and decorating using tips, but it was too thick. HELP!!!!!
I am from the UK and we don't use vegetable fat at all. I use butter. I whip butter up until it's almost white and then heap in icing sugar and drops of hot water (and flavouring if needed) and keep on whipping and adding icing sugar until I'm happy with the taste. This always ends up in lovely buttercream. Maybe this would work for you?
I use real but too -- have used alternatives just as an experiment but always come back to the real thing (why it's called BUTTERcream after all) ... anyways, you can use either hand held or benchtop... I started many years ago only with a handheld, but it's so much easier with a benchtop - less effort on the arms! Just make sure you use the mixing paddle and not whipping.
Hope this helps
-- Fi
I like a recipe with 1/2 shortening and 1/2 butter better than all shortening. You can get high-ration shortening (Sweetex is one brand) at most cake supply stores, and it has a lighter taste than Crisco.
BUT if you don't want to get special stuff, try mixing the Crisco with butter or margarine for a better taste. You can also add more vanilla or other flavoring to get a taste you like. Another thing to do is to mix it for longer and add the sugar slowly. For some reason, for me anyway, this turns out fluffier, smoother icing.
I use a KitchenAid, and use the Paddle attachment for icing, and mix for a good 7 minutes after everything is incorporated together.
And for icing the cake one thing to try is to make the buttercream softer by adding more liquid. It will smooth a lot easier than a stiff icing.
I use all butter too. Yummy! And I use salted butter. I know all the pros/experts/grandpoobahsofbaking insist on using unsalted butter in everything, but frankly I like the flavor of the salted butter better in my icing, so I will use it without shame! 
If I have a lot of piping to do, I will sometimes add a little shortening. I have hot hands and the shortening helps with the melting.
I use an all Crisco recipe, and I can't taste the Crisco at all when I'm done. Here is the recipe I use: (it is basically the Wilton class buttercream with a few modifications)
Yield: 3 cups
1 cup Crisco
1lb confectioner sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
pinch of salt
1 drop each of Lemon oil and Orange oil (I use LorAnn Oils)
2 Tablespoons water
Cream Crisco, water and flavorings
Mix in sugar and salt
I beat until it is smooth
This will make Stiff Icing. To make Medium add an additional Tablespoon of water to full recipe (3 total). To make Thin add an additional 2 Tablespoons of water to full recipe (4 total).
You can also add any other flavorings that you like. Oils usually only need 2 or 3 drops as they are concentrated. Flavorings I usually use 1/8 teaspoon.
I have found that the lemon and orange oil reduce the sweetness without adding any flavor.
HTH,
Chelle
Like the above post says, make sure you cream your crisco with at least the flavoring. This will cut down on the greasy taste.
Finding the perfect frosting is an ongoing quest.
Here are some previous threads:
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=38595&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=45
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-34776-.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-34519-.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-33450-.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-23641.html
HTH
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