Hi,

I am cooking a lot of cakes lately and using a lot of butter.  My question is, can butter be replaced either 50/50 or completely with shortening in a cake? I know that if you do this in cookies it does change the texture so i would also like to know more about what it does for cakes (if it can be done at all). Thanks

I wouldn't advise it. They have different melting points and will react differently in the mixture and in the oven.  If you want to use shortening instead of butter you should seek out recipes which use shortening instead of butter.

That's what i thought. Thank you for the confirmation. 
 

AHi I'm from uk and was just wondering what 'shortening' would be over here please? Thank you

Many people in the UK are confused by the term "Shortening" and don't think it is available in the UK. In fact, in the UK shortening is available under brand names such as Cookeen, Trex, White Flora, etc.

In France, the predominate brand, which is called "Végétaline", is made from hydrogenated coconut oil.

Read more: http://www.cooksinfo.com/shortening#ixzz2SHGol8bX