merryb wrote:
> On Aug 24, 3:02 am, "DavidW" > wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I'm about to make a chocolate cake and I have a few questions:
>>
>> 1. Should a chocolate cake typically contain salt? Watching cooking
>> shows it seems that just about everything should be seasoned,
>> according to professional chefs, but there's no salt in the
>> ingredients. It's a boiled chocolate cake (some ingredients, inc.
>> water, baking soda boiled and cooled before eggs, flour added). The
>> butter is listed simply as "butter". Commercial butter is normally
>> salted to an unknown degree. If I use unsalted butter should salt be
>> added; if so how much for a standard-sized cake?
>>
>> 2. If I bake and ice the cake on Monday and keep it in the fridge
>> will it still be in good shape on Friday? (i.e., no noticeable
>> degradation).
>>
>> 3. I have a vague recollection of asking this before, but there was
>> no magic solution. The mixture is very wet before the flour is added
>> and you always get bits of flour that will not mix in. My mother
>> solved this by using an electric mixer or blender, but I don't think
>> the cake was as good as when the flour was mixed in gently by hand
>> (and you put up with a few small flour pockets). Is there another
>> technique whereby I can mix in the flour evenly by without any
>> detriment to the cake?
>
> Just follow the recipe- you always want to use unsalted butter when
> baking if available. Use the recommended amount of salt in the recipe.

That's the problem. There is no salt in the recipe, but the cake is normally
made with plain "butter" (most likely salted). I'm sure there's nothing so
special about this cake that it should be unsalted if cakes are usually salted.
It does have sodium from the baking soda though. I wonder if that ends up
seasoning it.

> If you want to bake on Monday for eating on Friday, I would freeze the
> layers unfrosted and frost them on the day needed.

Okay, so really it's best to make it one or two days before. I will do that if
it's best. I'm a little worried that freezing/thawing it will change it a bit.