Butter....

Butter like any fat, acts as tenderiser in baked goods. It forms a coat around flour protein, preventing them from linking up with each other to elastic, rubbery sheets of gluten that would make a cake tough and chewy. Fats that are liquid at room temperature, like oils, do this better than fats that solid, which is why cake made with oil are so tender and moist. On the other hand, solid fats are able to trap thousands of tiny air bubbles when they are creamed, which later expand in the heat of the oven and thus produce a light, airy texture; oil cakes tend to be denser and at their worth can be gluey.

Serious bakers prefer butter to any kind of vegetable based shortening because of its superior flavour, aroma and the melting texture it gives to a cake. Three kinds of butter are most commonly available in market here: salted, slightly and unsalted. There are usually roughly 80% fat and 15% water, the rest being milk proteins. Cheaper butters tend to certain more water and thus are softer than higher grade butters. Unsalted butter has a sweeter, more delicate daily aroma and flavour than salted butter and that from the Normandy region of France is held to be king of butters, for its flowery aroma and rich taste.

Butter should be stored in the fridge, wrapped airtight as it quickly adsorbs the odours of neighboring items. It can be frozen successfully for a few months; just remember to let it defrost slowly in the fridge.