On Aug 31, 10:06*pm, Cheryl > wrote:
> On 8/24/2012 5:54 PM, DavidW wrote:
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> > 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?
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> >>> 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).
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> >>> 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?
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> >> Just follow the recipe- you always want to use unsalted butter when
> >> baking if available. Use the recommended amount of salt in the recipe.
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> > 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.
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> > 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.
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> I know I'm late to the party here, but freezing the layers and frosting
> later is actually better. *You can even frost the layers if they are
> still frozen and the cake will be very moist. *BTDT many times. *In fact
> that's how I used to do wedding cakes.

That's how all bakeries do it also!