Working Characteristics of Fats & Oils

1. Aeration; flavour; texture; increasing shelf life; rich cake; colour (4, 2, 5)
5. Flour grains become coated in fat, which prevents the gluten from developing as contact with water is inhibited. The protein remains in short strands, producing a crumbly, buttery texture (10)
6. It is the ability to be moulded or shaped under pressure, and determines fats spreadability. The more unsaturated the fat is, the more plastic it will be. Depends on the chemical structure due to the mixture of triglycerides. Think chocolate melting. (10)
7. Soft crumb; texture; flavour; in specific breads oil is added such as in foccacia , in Chelsea buns butter is added (4, 2, 5)
10. Shortening; flavour; colour; fat is used differently in different pastries eg. shortening in shortcrust, makes layers in flaky. (4, 2, 6)

2. In rich cakes fat can hold and trap air. This helps give the cake a good volume and texture eg. Victoria sandwich cake (8)
3. Points at which a shimmer or faint blue haze appears over a fat (such as oil), it indicates the ideal heat for frying (6, 6)
4. In shallow frying fat or oil prevents food sticking to the cooking surface eg. in baking fat is used to grease the tin (11)
8. Fat can be used as a moisture repelling seal eg. melted butter is used to cover pate (7)
9. Shiny finish on foods, sources of glazing made with little or no fat tend to have a dull appearance (7)

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