Fat and Other Tenderizers

Any fat used in baking is called a shortening because it shortens gluten strands. It does this by surrounding the particles and lubricating them so they do not stick together. Thus, fats are tenderizers. A cookie or pastry that is very crumbly, which is due to high fat content and little gluten development, is said to be short.

In the two-stage cake mixing method, the flour is mixed so thoroughly with shortening that very little gluten development takes place, even with several minutes of mixing.