FUNCTIONS OF INGREDIENTS

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3. FATS

Item Ingredients Sources and Functions Additional Notes
1 Butter
  • Fat of cream (dairy)
  • Adds flavour and texture to baking products. Coating and shortening gluten strands, resulting in tenderisation in baking goods.
  • Contains 81% fat with the balance made up from water and solids.
  • 1 stick butter = 113 g (in US)
  • 1 stick salted butter = 1 stick unsalted butter + 1/4 tsp salt
  • In Malaysia and Singapore, butter is packed in 250g block (as shown).
2 Margarine
  • Made from hydrogenated vegetable oil, or blend of animal and vegetable oil, water, milk solids and salt.
  • Less flavour compared to butter.
3 Shortening
  • Vegetable shortening (e.g. Crisco brand).
  • Hydrogenated vegetable oil to increase its melting point.
  • Used in pastry making.
  • Less flavour compared to butter
  • Better creaming property as it contains mono and diglycerides.
  • Contains emulsifers to help emulsifying liquid and fat.
4 Ghee
  • Butter that has been slowly melted to produce clarified butter.
  • Ghee is clarified butter that has been simmered until all the moisture removed.
  • Used to make Kuih Makmur, Sugee cookies etc.
5 Lard
  • Produced from pork fat.
  • Traditionally used in savoury crusts.
  • Odourless and tasteless.
 
6 Oil
  • Fats that stay liquid.
  • Coats flour and sugar for smoother dough, easier mixing, reduced mixing times and prevent gluten formation.
  • No creaming property like butter and margarine (solid fats) as oil does not hold air.
  • For greasing to prevent sticking of baking products to pans.
  • Examples of oil: Canola oil, olive oil, soy bean oil, corn oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil etc.
7 Pastry margarine
  • Specially formulated for doughs to form layers, e.g. Danish pastry, puff pastry etc.
  • Waxy texture.
 
8 Krimwell
  • Specially formulated vegetable shortening for making buttercream.
  • Good creaming property.