On Aug 24, 2:54*pm, "DavidW" > wrote:
> 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.

That what bakeries do!