Shortening is any fat that is a solid at room temperature and used to make crumbly pastry and other food products. 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. A short dough is one that is crumbly or mealy. The opposite of a short dough is a “long” dough or dough that stretches. Vegetable shortening (or butter, or other solid fats) can produce both types of dough; the difference is in technique. To produce a short dough, which is commonly used for tarts, the shortening is cut into the flour with a pastry blender, pair of table knives, fingers, or other utensil until the resulting mixture has a fine, cornmeal-like texture. type ps369 0.1 ffa 49-52 melting point (c) 0.1 moisture % 3.0r colour