Among the commonly used vegetable oils and fats, palm oil is by far the most versatile. After refining, palm oil possesses all the characteristics required for many uses without hydrogenation. By fractionating palm oil, its uses are further increased. Hydrogenation and interesterification increase its uses even further, especially in making specialized and sophisticated edible products. Its versatility makes it a suitable raw material for many applications both in edible and non-edible products. The functionality of shortenings to be used in cakes, "butter cream" fillings, biscuits and pastry is dependent on several factors, such as a smooth consistency to facilitate mixing and a fine crystal structure in the solid fat phase. This contributes to smoothness, and is essential in cake making and creaming applications.