What is shortening and when should I use it in baking?
Nenny B., NY, NY Shortening refers to solid fats and oils used in baking as well as in cooking. Shortening made from vegetable oils is referred to as vegetable shortening whereas shortening made from pork fat is known as lard. Shortening is used in pie making because it yields a flaky rather than a cookielike “short” crust as would butter. However, if you like the flavor of butter than substitute 25 % butter for 25 % of the shortening. Lard, which also yields a flaky pie crust, imparts its own wonderful distinctive flavor and is my shortening of choice in pie making because it is so easy to work with. Shortenings are also used in other baked goods for a variety of reasons. Commercially, cookies and cakes are made with shortening because it is so much cheaper than butter. In homebaking books, however, perhaps the recipe was originally made with shortening for reasons of economy and was handed down, written that way, from generation to generation. It is safe to substitute melted butter f
