Topic: Shortening Questuib


DellDGM    -- 05-06-2007 @ 8:09 PM
  Hi everybody - I'm a newbie from Australia and I have a question about shortening - is it a liquid or a solid - do you melt it before use if not specified in the recipe.  I ask because here it is a solid mass called copha (Vegetable shortening) and lots of recipes say mix shortening and sugar (for example) but as a solid mass even if you chop it into smaller pieces and leave it out of the fridge you can't beat it like butter and sugar.  so I was just wondering if its a different product here or if it is just understood that shortening has to be melted.

any help please

Ta Dell


cakebaker    -- 05-07-2007 @ 12:29 AM
  Hi Dell,

I'm in Australia too.
Copha is a coconut based product. I wouldn't try to use it as the shortening called for in US recipes. It's a different product altogether, better keep it for melting it for chocolate crackles.

Depending where you are in Australia there are products you can buy as shortening, from cake decorating stores.
I buy cream cup which is a vegetable shortening.

Hope this helps a bit.



snoboard    -- 05-27-2007 @ 5:21 PM
  Shortening is solid, while oil is liquid.  The most common brand of shortening is Crisco®.  And here you store Crisco® outside of the fridge, so it's soft enough to mix sugar in there.  I don't know, but I would imagine that you could melt your Copha down to an oil form, then mix it in with the sugar.  I don't know about the product stability once it's melted though.


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