Cake Makeover

Have you ever tried to make your own buttercream frosting? I have tried many different recipes and they are all epic fails, tasting more like creamy powdered sugar than a yummy bakery replica. So I end up going back to the pre-made canned stuff which honestly just isn't that great either.
But ya'll, I found something yummy this time.
The flavoring is different so some of you may not like it, but I think it's amazing.
You see, this sweet lady we've gotten to know here in Bentonville has made us cakes for special occasions (i.e. Christmas, end of school year, Adelynn's shower), and Jason and I both agreed that we like them better than Rick's...that the icing is just awesome.
I've always hesitated asking her for her secrets cause this is somewhat taboo (right??), but I finally just did it the other day and she was more than gracious to share. She said it was a Wilton's recipe and nothing she invented.
So I thought I'd share with you!
No pictures since it looks just like normal icing, but it tastes super yummy! Give it a try:

In a mixer, mix:
1 cup Crisco
1 tsp. Almond Extract (this is the flavor difference that i LOVE)
2 tsp. water

Sift in separarte bowl:
4 cups powder sugar
1 TBSP mereigne powder (optional)

Mix powder sugar mix in with the crisco mixture, adding a few TBSP of water until it's the creamy texture you want (I think I ended up adding about 4 additional TBSP of water).

YUMMY!

And then have you seen the "improve the box cake" recipe going around Pinterest??? I tried that tonight too and it was great!!! Here it is in case you missed it:

Take you normal cake box recipe, and add 1 Egg, double the oil (but don't actually use any oil at all) and instead use that doubled amount in melted butter, and use milk instead of water.

Happy Baking!!!! Now if I can just learn how to decorate....hmm.