Okay, I was wondering if anyone could help me figure out a way to make a stiff icing that can be covered in fondant, can be stored at room temperature, stacks well and doesn't slide around without using shortening Just looking at the ingredients that include "meat fats" really grosses me out. 
I thought about maybe making a roux with flour and butter and whipping it with powdered sugar. Has anyone done this or does anyone have a better idea?
There is all vegetable shortenings. If it just says shortening it could contain meat fats.
Compare the nutritional fats from butter and Crisco, but have about the same amount of calories, and butter does still contain a lot of fat, so it isn't really going to make a 'healthier' icing.
If you are interested in one with a roux you could use a "cooked " icing that starts out with flour and milk. It contains butter but it is supposed to be refrigerated and it isn't stiff at room temperature.
What about making a meringue based icing using all vegetable shortning?
Thanks for the comments, guys. I was just watching a tutorial on youtube by edna and she said that crisco won't give you a good texture in icing and you should use the store brand shortening which does have meat fats listed in the ingredients. Crisco has removed the trans fats from their shortening and the texture has changed a bit. I could use the all-butter method but I'm worried that it won't be as stable.
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/09/perfect-cupcake-frosting-and-filling.html
The recipe on this blog is a great 'buttercream' icing that isn't quite so sweet. It starts with a white sauce.
I've used it before, and the taste is great. It has almost like a whipped cream texture, so it's stiff, but not as 'solid' as buttercream. It holds it's shape, but it doesn't get the buttercream crust. I've never covered it with fondant however, so you're on your own there.
It is definitely my favourite icing recipe.
I only use butter in my buttercreams and they are stable. And in my mmf I just use marshmallows water and sugar. No fat added and works just fine!
Shortening is made with vegetable fat but it sure is much more unhealthy than butter.
Vegetable oils are great for your health, but once they are treated to became solid they become really unhealthy (trans fat / hydrogenated fat).
Even lard (pork's fat) is healthier than crisco! It has mono-unsaturated fat (oleic acid), just like olive oil.
I am so glad I never got used to making an icing using something with trans fat. I am not saying that statements like what Edna said was wrong. I am saying that because I started out making icing with no trans fat shortening, I only know how that kind tastes, looks, feels, etc. And it works fine for me.
There is no such thing as healthy icing. They all have either butter or shortening. I recommend Indydeb's recipe. She uses Dream Whip in the icing which also has trans fat in it. It must help with this whole non transfat thing Edna talks about because Indydeb's says she never noticed a difference when they changed the Crisco.
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