butter or margarine in baking, high-moisture
spreads throw liquid-solid proportions badly
out of balance. Very-low-fat and no-fat
spreads contain so much starch, gum, and/or
protein that there’s nothing there to melt when
heated: they dry out and eventually burn.
Specialty margarines are generally
available only to professional bakers. Like the
original French oleomargarine, they
sometimes contain beef tallow. They’re
formulated to have a firm but spreadable
consistency over a much broader temperature
range than butter (p. 562).
Hydrogenation By-Products: Trans
Fatty Acids
Trans fatty acids are unsaturated fatty
acids that nevertheless behave more like
saturated fatty acids (p. 801). They’re
formed in the hydrogenation process, and
are the reason that margarines can be as
solid as butter and yet contain half the