Okey, except from shortening having a higher melting point than butter, the difference in performance in butter and shortening is much due to shortening being 100% while butter is 80% fat and 20% water and milk solids, if I understood this article right.

What is not written in this article, and what I miss, is what you can do about it. What I'm thinking as the obvious and easy solution to the problem that butter is not 100% fat, is just to clarify it by melting it and put it in the fridge to go solid again. Then the water and milk solids will be at the bottom and 100% butter fat on top. When you discard the water at the bottom, you have made what they in India call "ghee", and it will be 100% fat, just as shortening.

When the water is gone, maybe the melting point will be slighly higher as well? I have no idea, someone else might know that.

So, butter being 80% and not 100% fat is a very easy thing to solve by clarifying it. It should then improve your baking, just as shortening, but still give you that wonderful rich butter flavor. It might not solve the problem with butter having a lower melting point, but it should solve the rest.

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