Question about frosting/icing for dipping

[lana-in-fl]

Has anyone seen the book "Hello, Cupcake!" shown on the link? It has the most adorable suggestions. It also says, "for a firm, shiny surface or a glistening, smooth one, we recommend canned frosting, which holds up well to the heat and maintains a perfect texture when melted." This works like a charm, but the canned frosting is expensive, and doesn't taste nice, though I must admit it doesn't taste too bad when treated like this.

Still, my question is, does anyone have a from-scratch white colorable icing that we can use for dipping like this? It offends DD's every feeling to use canned frosting.

TIA

http://www.amazon.com/Hello-Cupcake-Irresistibly-Playful-Creations/dp/0618829253/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250353861&sr=1-1#reader

 

[cheezz]

All the recipes I see use either all shortening, or 1/2 shortening 1/2 butter

 

[lana-in-fl]

Thanks - we'll have to experiment.