[ViolaMum]

Spectrum shortening went bad? Was it rancid? Yikes! I try to have some in the pantry because I use it occasionally for pastry and I've had opened tubs for months. How old was yours?

I do a lot of baking. That sort of frosting should be just fine in the fridge, just be prepared to give it time to soften. You might possibly need to re-beat it for a minute or two before you frost the cake, but it should work just fine. You can bake cake layers ahead of time, too. Just wrap well to keep it from absorbing fridge flavors. You can even punch up the flavor of your cake by brushing it with a liqueur (Grand Marnier, or Bailey's, etc) or a flavored simple syrup (like lemon).

You should be able to freeze leftover frosting, too. (I have a couple different frostings in the deep freeze right now. I actually have a whole shelf dedicated to baking - frosting, extra cake layers, cake trimmings, cookie dough )