butter is already premeasured - 1 pound of butter equals 4 sticks or cubes of butter or 2 cups of butter.
1 stick or cube of butter equals 1/2 cup or 8 tablespoons of butter. (right? check me on that)
and for shortening rom a can, just smoosh it in the cup, level it out, and scoop it out of the cups.
You can use a wonder cup to measure shortening: http://www.countrykitchensa.com/catalog/product.aspx?T=1&productId=1676
It packs the shortening nicely so you measure more accurately than using regular measuring cups.
My grandmother measures shortening by putting it into water and seeing how much water it displaces. For example, if you need 1 cup of shortening fill a 4 cup measuring cup with two cups of water. Drop shortening in by spoonfuls until the water line rises up to 3 cups. You get an accurate measure without having to scrape the shortening out of the cup. Kind of hard to explain, but hope I did an OK job.
I measure my shortening by weight for this very reason - way to messy and complicated. I took the amount of shortening I use for one batch of BC and weighed it. Now I just use my scale.
I spend the extra money and buy the shortning that comes premeasured for this very reason. The measurments are on the wrapper just like butter and you can cut staight through the foil to whatever amount you need. They even come in cool little containers with lids...
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