Why Use Emulsified Shortening?

• Emulsified shortening was originally adapted for commercial bakers that required high ratios of sugar and liquid to flour in their cakes. Unlike regular shortening that can't absorb high quantities of liquid and sugar, emulsified shortening contains emulsifiers that absorb and bind together large quantities of water and sugar, resulting in light and moist cakes and baked goods. Emulsified shortening does not cream well, so if a recipe calls for creaming -- the act of blending and aerating shortening with sugar -- use regular shortening.

The Art of Blending

• Most cake recipes call for creaming together shortening with sugar and then adding eggs, flour and liquid alternatively until combined. Recipes that call for emulsified shortening require a two-stage method of incorporating the shortening into the batter. First, dry ingredients are blended with the emulsified shortening until smooth, and then the liquid ingredients are added. Coating the flour particles with emulsified shortening at the beginning creates a barrier between the moisture and flour, which prevents gluten from developing, resulting in a lighter and more tender cake.

Frosting Pros and Cons

• Emulsified shortening remains stable in a greater range of temperatures than other fats. This makes it a good choice for frostings that must remain at room temperature or unrefrigerated in humid conditions for many hours. Its stability means the frosting stays fluffy and creamy. Unlike butter, which gives frostings a yellow tinge, emulsified shortening is pure white and a better choice if you need bright white frosting. Some common brands, including Alpine Hi-Ratio shortening and Sweetex, come in a zero trans fat formulations. The drawback is that shortening-based frosting is tasteless and doesn't have the buttery flavor associated with traditional buttercream frostings.

Hydrogenated vs. Emulsified

• Solid shortening in recipes allows you to cream and aerate batters, an important step for creating volume in non-aerated cakes, such as pound cakes. Yet, to turn a liquid fat into a solid shortening requires hydrogenation, which creates trans fats, which are considered unhealthy. Emulsifiers added to vegetable-based oils creates a soft shortening that blends well with dry ingredients and doesn't contain trans fats. Cakes made with large amounts of hydrogenated shortening have shorter shelf lives than cakes made with smaller amounts of emulsified shortening.