I like to make my own buttercream but last time I made it my mixer started giving off that burnt rubber smell from the motor so if it conks out on me I need to have  a frosting that I can go out and buy?  What would be the best brand? 

I looked in the freezer, at the half-empty can from the last chocolate cake I baked my parents. Duncan Hines Creamy Homestyle Dark Chocolate Fudge. I don't eat chocolate, so all I have is hearsay, but reaction has been favorable.

And on another note, it *is* possible to mix a cold-process American BC (from the recipe that's been on the back of the C&H powdered sugar box since before most of us were born) using nothing but an ordinary dinner fork; that's how I've always mixed it. (Indeed, I have no idea whether using a mixer changes the texture or not, having never made it with a mixer.)

Thanks, I'll be on the lookout for the Duncan Hines Homestyle. 

I know a lady who swears by generic brand chocolate frosting with half a cup of cocoa mixed in, she calls it truffle frosting and sells it on her cakes. She's pretty popular, so it must taste good, lol.

That sounds like a good idea, I might have to try that.