Decorator's Cake Frosting (using Crisco)
rec.food.baking/Lynne Hedden (1997)

Decorators often use this when temperature is a concern. Butter melts at a lower temp, and won't hold up outside in the summer, for instance.

2 pounds powdered sugar
1 1/4 cups Crisco
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
a few drops almond and/or butter flavoring.

Beat 10 minutes, depending on your mixer, until light and fluffy. The almond and butter flavorings really add much more to the taste than you would think possible. It takes away the "cheap bakery" taste.

Khoff98107:
I have also found that a combination of Butter and Crisco improves the taste while retaining some (not all) of the sturdiness of the Crisco frosting. The all-Crisco version is good for practicing with as you are learning how to decorate cakes.

Ken Cates:
This sounds like the frosting that we used during a Wilton cake decorating class that I took (about 14 years ago) at J.C. Penney's. The instructor made a big to-do that we should make the frosting with water and not with milk on the grounds that the frosting stays fresh longer if you use water. She said that if we used milk in the frosting we should imagine a glass of milk sitting next to the (unrefrigerated) frosted cake and then eat the frosting only if we would be willing to drink the milk. Convinced me. Start with a wad of Crisco and a capful or so of vanilla extract. Beat in enough powdered sugar to make it "look right." Finally, beat in enough water to make it soft enough to spread and "pipe" nicely. For an extra treat beat in a capful or so of butter flavoring. Sorry to not be more precise, but it's been a while.

Lucita:
Recipelink.com (2002)
I have made this recipe many times, with one change in preparation. A friend told me to use hot water, as hot as it will run from the tap. It makes a world of difference. If I want it really white I use clear vanilla, with one tsp. of butter flavor, and don't forget the salt.