Buttercream Icing III

This recipe comes from a cake decorating class I took a while back. Most of these ingredients can be found in the baking aisle of an arts-and-crafts store, such as Hobby Lobby.

Ingredients

 * 2 cups Crisco
 * 8 cups sifted powdered sugar
 * 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 * 1 tablespoon Meringue powder
 * 1/2 teaspoon salt
 * 1/2 cup of liquid:
 * 1 teaspoon clear vanilla
 * 1/2 teaspoon clear butter flavor
 * 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
 * Rest of 1/2 cup: water

Preparation
In large mixing bowl, add Crisco, sifted powdered sugar, flour, Meringue powder, and salt. In measuring cup, add clear vanilla, butter flavor, and almond extract. Fill up with water to 1/2 cup line. Be sure to only use 1/2 cup of liquid total, or the icing will become too soft to work with if more is added. Add liquid mixture to ingredients in bowl. Mix on medium speed until icing is completely mixed and smoothed.

NOTES: 8 cups is equal to a 2 lb bag. Also, you may substitute almond extract for lemon, orange, etc.