INGREDIENTS - Emulsified Shortenings

These are soft shortenings that spread easily throughout a batter and quickly coat the particles of sugar and flour. Because they contain added emulsifying agents, they can hold a larger quantity of liquid and sugar than regular shortenings can. Thus, they give a smoother and finer texture to cakes and make them moister. On the other hand, emulsified shortening does not cream well. When recipe instructions call for creaming shortening and sugar, regular shortening rather than emulsified shortening should be used. Emulsified shortening is often used when the weight of sugar in a cake batter is greater than the weight of flour. Because this shortening spreads so well, a simpler mixing method can be used. Such cakes are referred to as high-ratio cakes, and emulsified shortening is sometimes called high-ratio shortening. In addition, emulsified shortening is often used in icings because it can hold more sugar and liquid without curdling.

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INGREDIENTS - Regular Shortenings

These shortenings have a fairly tough, waxy texture, and small particles of the fat tend to hold their shape in a dough or batter. Regular shortenings can be manufactured to varying degrees of hardness. They have a good creaming ability.This means that a good quantity of air can be mixed into them to give a batter lightness and leavening power. Also, this type of shortening melts only at a high temperature.

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INGREDIENTS - Shortenings

Any fat acts as a shortening in baking because it shortens gluten strands and tenderizes the product. However, we generally use the word shortening to mean any of a group of solid fats,usually white and tasteless,that are especially formulated for baking. Shortenings generally consist of nearly 100% fat. Shortenings may be made from vegetable oils, animal fats, or both. During manufacturing, the fats are hydrogenated. This process turns liquid oils into solid fats. Because shortenings are used for many purposes, manufacturers have formulated different kinds of fats with different properties.There are two main types: regular shortenings and emulsified shortenings.

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INGREDIENTS - Fat Emulsions

Most bakery ingredients mix easily with water and other liquids and actually undergo a change in form. For example, salt and sugar dissolve in water; flour and starch absorb water and the water becomes bound up with the starch and protein molecules. Fat, on the other hand, does not change form when it is mixed with liquids or other bakery ingredients. Instead, it is merely broken down into smaller and smaller particles during mixing.These small fat particles eventually become more or less evenly distributed in the mix. A uniform mixture of two unmixable substances,such as a fat and water,is called an emulsion. Mayonnaise is a familiar example of an emulsion from outside the bakeshop—in this case, an emulsion of oil and vinegar.There are also emulsions of air and fat,such as that formed when shortening and sugar are creamed together in the production of cakes and other products. Fats have differing abilities to form emulsions. For example, if the wrong shortening is used in certain cakes, the emulsion may fail because the batter contains more water than the fat can hold.We then say that the batter curdles or breaks.

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INGREDIENTS - Fats

The major functions of fats in baked items are: • To tenderize the product and soften the texture. • To add moistness and richness. • To increase keeping quality. • To add flavor. • To assist in leavening when used as creaming agents or when used to give flakiness to puff pastry, pie dough, and similar products. Many fats are available to the baker. Each has different properties that make it suitable for different purposes. Among the properties a baker must consider when selecting a fat for a specific use are its melting point, its softness or hardness at different temperatures, its flavor, and its ability to form emulsions.

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