Why is shortening used in buttercream

It goes through a special process called hydrogenation so it remains semi-solid at room temperature. Even though these ingredients are clearly different, shortening and butter are often used interchangeably in recipes with acceptable results. Cookies made with butter, especially high-sugar recipes, tend to be flatter and crispier than cookies made with shortening.

To see just how different the spread would be, I baked two batches of our Self-Rising Crunchy Sugar Cookies one made with all butter, one with all shortening , for another shortening vs. As predicted, the cookies made with shortening spread less and remained slightly rounded, thanks to the higher melting point.

You might recognize this slightly sandy, crumbly feel as the characteristic texture of shortbread. A quick fix? Consider chilling your butter-based cookie dough to help control spread and bonus, you'll also experience a wonderful depth of flavor, too! What about cake? Would the cake rise in the oven? Or would it collapse? Would it have a large crumb? We needed to find out! One cake was baked using all butter, while shortening was the fat of choice in the other.

The result? The difference between shortening vs. The height was comparable, as were the color and crumb. The texture of the cake made with shortening, however was quite pleasant — tender, lofty, and light. When shortening is creamed with sugar, it traps air molecules, which helps to leaven cakes and make them tender. A fork slides through a slice of shortening-based cake easier than one made with butter.

The rich creaminess of a classic butter cake is hard to replace. But shortening might have its place in your frosting recipe too. We replicated hot, summery conditions when so many of us cake bakers are called upon by putting frosted cupcakes in a low oven for 10 minutes.

The results were drastic: the all-butter buttercream melted and spread down the sides of the cupcake, while the buttercream made with shortening held its shape. Unlike butter, vegetable shortening has a neutral flavour. In Australia most popular and commonly used vegetable shortening is Copha.

But you may also have heard names Crisco and Solite , when trying to find where to buy some shortening. Even though it might seem so, Copha, Crisco and Solite are not equivalent at all. So what are the main differences? Copha is made in Australia and is widely available in the supermarkets.

Copha is hard block of white vegetable fat, that melts to a clear liquid when heated — exactly what you would expect coconut oil to do. Crisco is a brand of shortening manufactured in United States and it is the most common vegetable shortening over there.

Crisco is not available in the supermarkets in Australia but you may find it, in some of the well-stocked cake supply stores. The main ingredients in Crisco are soybean oil and palm oil. Crisco can be used in recipes that call for butter or margarine, but is not recommended to use as a spread.

Crisco vegetable shortening has soft, creamy texture, and is snow white in colour. I does not set hard like Copha does.

Solite vegetable shortening is a premium quality creaming shortening, and it is Australian version of Crisco.

It has very similar texture and can be used as a direct replacement for any recipes that call for Crisco. Solite vegetable shortening is perfect for buttercreams or fudge icings. Like Crisco, Solite vegetable shortening is pure white in colour, which ensures that your colours stay true, unlike when you add them to a buttercream that has the yellow colour of butter.

It can be flavoured and coloured using paste colours and powder colours. Solite is more widely available then Crisco is. Vegetable shortening is most commonly used in baking and desserts. It is often mixed with butter, because it creates a more luscious taste, without sacrificing the crumblier texture needed in some scones or pie crusts. Vegetable shortenings are ideal as a partial or total replacement for butter. Do you know where I could've gone wrong? Surprisingly the plain butter one is harder to touch!

Any explanation would be helpful as I'm planning on making Tasting Boxes this weekend and I really can't have buttercream that'll melt! Is it possible you added a different amount of sugar by mistake. To stiffen the frosting just add a little bit more frosting. Otherwise- a few things may have caused this 1. Hi, I just found your site and I'm excited to try your Buttercream Frosting recipe, but I have a question first. I noticed in one of the photos there are 2 sticks of butter, which would be a cup.

Would I then use 1 cup of Crisco also? If you are doubling the recipe you will use double of everything listed. I believe in these photos I doubled the recipe. Great taste and wonderful consistency. Worked great for piping and holding its shape. What kind of shortening do you use? Do you typically use a butter flavor or the normal shortening? I love buttercream made with crisco in it, I feel it is a more professional frosting. I made this today for some Christmas cupcakes for my son and his co-workers.

It came out so light and fluffy! I did tweak it a bit, I doubled the recipe then added only 1 tsp of clear vanilla and 1T plus 1 tsp marshmallow flavoring taste pretty darn good!!! Thanks for this recipe which I've used as written successfully. I would like to use it again to pipe 'leaves' to decorate a cake. I'd like to know if this recipe will work if I add gel food coloring?

If you want, you can use butter as a substitute. Can I use this recipe for a lemon buttercream? If so, just substitute the vanilla for lemon. Unfortunately, my powdered turned into hard rock. Can I substitute ultra fine sugar? If so what is the equivalent measurement?

Thank you so much???? Hi Cherry, I have not tried ultra fine sugar. The closest sub I have used is to blend sugar in a high powered blender to make powdered sugar. You might be able to try this! However, I do not have any personal experience with these products so I cannot speak with certainty.

One other thing I should mention - high ratio shortening. For the longest time, I'd only heard of this product but never used it. It's not readily available where I live and it's more expensive. Also, it's even more expensive to have it shipped, so double-whammy.

But I kept hearing it talked about in cake circles everywhere so I finally bit the bullet and ordered some. Here's my take. First, is it a better product? My buttercream did seem smoother and creamier when using the high ratio shortening. However, after trying it, I came to the conclusion that the slight improvement in texture did not outweigh the extra costs. I live in rural Mississippi and I'm already charging more for cakes than most of my competitors.

If I add an expensive ingredient to my recipes, I have to raise my prices again and I'm not sure my clients would tolerate another price increase. Besides, I'm not convinced that the difference is all that noticeable for the general public. I taste buttercream all. But would my family or friends or clients?

Probably not. However, for those of you who can get your hands on high ratio shortening without having to pay exorbitant shipping costs, it may be worth it for you. At the very least, order a small container of it and give it a try. Then you can draw your own conclusion. Other than actual shortening substitutes So if you're looking at any of my frosting recipes , I usually use some butter and some Crisco shortening. I feel like the combination gives the fantastic flavor of butter but the stability of shortening.

My most popular recipes are vanilla buttercream , chocolate buttercream and this cream cheese buttercream. If you choose to use all butter instead of some portion of shortening , the frosting will be softer. It will melt wilt, sag faster if your cake is in a warm room or outside. It will not be as stable at warmer temperatures. Piped buttercream will not hold its shape as well outside of the refrigerator.

Think of it this way: shortening at room temp is still solid. Butter at room temp becomes quite soft. Your frosting will reflect those differences depending on what you use.