ShorteningAny animal Fat or vegetable fat or oil that “shortens” or retards the development of gluten strands in baked goods for the purpose of producing a
tender, crisp texture. Solid fats are most commonly used instead of oils because of their plastic nature. It is used in baked goods.
A solid fat made from
vegetable oils, such as
soybean and cottonseed oil, which have been hydrogenated to create a solid. This process creates trans fatty acids which turns polyunsaturated fats into
saturated fats. Vegetable shortening is virtually flavorless, and is used to make baked goods light and flaky. Crisco is a popular brand of vegetable shortening.
Shortening is any fat that is solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry. Shortening is used in pastries that should not be elastic, such as cake. Although
butter is solid at room temperature and is frequently used in making pastry, the term "shortening" seldom refers to butter, but is more closely related to
margarine.
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