HI!
I use a 1/2 crisco-1.2 butter recipe, and I really like it on cake. So far, so has everyone I have given a cake to. But I made some cupcakes for a friend and she said that they icing was overwhelmingly sweet for her taste. I had to agree. You get so much more icing per bite of cake with a cupcake, that it's too much, but it doesn't look nice without a nice big pretty swirl on top. So what do you top your cupcakes with? I don't like swiss meringue butter cream, it just tastes like butter to me!

Most of the time I use a crisco/butter frosting. The frosting needs the crisco to hold up and the butter makes it taste better. But everyone is different. My hubby doesn't like frosting...and I don't really eat cake. It all works out. =o)

plain (or chocolate) cream cheese icing or whipped ganache are all delish and pipe nice swirls. i've tried just about every icing that i've put on a cake on a cupcake and they've been yum-o.

If your cream cheese frosting was too runny, you just needed to add more PS to stiffen it. For the ganache, you have to let it set so that it's thick enough to pipe. Freshly made ganache is great to drizzle on brownies, cookies, to glaze cakes, etc. etc. I usually leave ganache covered at room temp overnight if I want to pipe it. Some people refrigerate it to move the process along more quickly. I'll PM you some super easy ones to try.

When I have made cream cheese icing, I have ended up with 8-10 cups of it, trying to add enough powdered sugar to thicken it. I'm going wrong somewhere. Thanks for sharing!

I use a straight Sweetex, no butter, buttercream. I mainly do vegan cupcakes, (and I'm not vegan) so I don't use butter.

I also just do ganache. mmmm!

You have to make sure your ratio is spot on, and let it rest a bit to thicken up. Usual ratio is 2:1.

HTH

I don't use any crisco based icings. It is all IMBC, french buttercream, and cooked custard bases. These are much less sweet and blend better with the cake... a much smoother taste. There is a wealth of information on CC concerning these cooked icings.

There's almost TOO much information. It's hard to know where to start!

I use butter/crisco icing on cupcakes. I add about 1/2 a teaspoon of salt to the icing and it cuts the sweetness a little bit.

You could try tweaking a SMBC or IMBC recipe. I did that with my IMBC recipe so it tastes less buttery... I increase the sugar by about a third, reduce the butter by about a third (I use unsalted which changes it too) and add in some cooled melted (dark or white) chocolate after the butter. Tastes heaps better (IMO!) and you still get that fabulously silky texture. IMBC is very forgiving, so don't be afraid to play with it a bit.

I've mixed a smbc with american buttercream and had good results. Very creamy and less sweet.mmmm

I either use salted butter or margarine...it really helps to cut the sweet.

I adjust my frosting depending on which cake I'm making. e.g. on my banoffee cupcakes I use a cream cheese one, on lemon meringue I use a meringue topping, flour roux frosting on red velvets and so on.

I always use salted butter, I find it cuts the sweetness down just enough.