Conference turris::cooks

    Did you call Paul's Bakery?   We have used their services
    on many occasions for birthdays, going away parties and
    have been very pleased.
    
    Ask the bakery how big of a cake you will need.  They will
    figure it out.
    
    Hope your party is a success!
    

    If you're expecting up to 50 people, I'd play it safe and order
    a cake for 50.  Even though not everyone may eat it, some people
    may take seconds, and you don't want the embarrassment of running
    out of cake!
    
    As far as what kind, I'd go with a vanilla cake.  Some people 
    don't like chocolate (unbelievable but true!) or may be allergic
    to it.  Another solution may be to ask the bakery if they could
    make a half-chocolate/half-vanilla (put two sheet cakes together)
    then you'd have the best of both worlds!
    
    good luck
    Pam

    A suggestion: ask our very own Carolyn Madden (SQM::MADDEN).
    
    In her other incarnation, she is a cake baker and decorator.
    
    					andrew
    

    oh thanks for the quick replies, our party is the 23rd but guess what?? 
    i no longer have to worry about the cake!  i'm having this at the
    quarterdeck (fish market/restaraunt) and they have informed me that
    prior to their success in the fish business they were bakers.  i should
    of known this from the chocolate cake that passed by me the last time i
    was there (it was something a chocoholic would love!) but they are
    taking care of the cake too!  thanks again,
    
    cj
    

    In most cake recipes, there is no real "yield" (especially in this
    notesfile!).  So I was faced with a dilemma last week when I had to
    bake a cake for between 30 and 40 people (adults) for a friend's 30th
    birthday.  I wanted a "tried-and-true" recipe (which let out Betty
    Crocker!), and I don't "do" cake mixes.  So I searched and researched,
    and this is what I came up with.
    
    Note 108.4, called Barbara Esterbrook's Chocolate Cake.  I made a
    double batch, cutting the salt in half (we were eating it the same day
    - why preserve it?), substituting butter for shortening, and boiling
    strong coffee for the hot water.  I poured the cake into two 13x9x2
    inch pans (greased and cocoa-ed) and baked at 325F for 50-60 mintutes
    (in my poorly calibrated ovens, 55 minutes was perfect).
    
    While they were baking, I prepared a filling.
    
    1 pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
    1 cup heavy cream
    1/4 cup Kahlua
    3/4 cup whole milk
    
    Beat at high speed for about four minutes, then refrigerate.
    
    I cut one cake in half, leaving two  6-1/2x9 cakes.  I cut one half in
    half again, leaving two 6-1/2x4-1/2 cakes.  I trimmed those two into a
    three and a zero (actually an oval).  At this point, I sampled the cake
    and it was *wonderful*.
    
    Then I prepared Kahlua frosting from the Chocolate notesfile, note
    106.0. (double batch).
    
    I covered a large cardboard with freezer paper (coated side up) to use
    as a cake server. (I did this while the cakes were baking, too.)  Then
    I placed a couple of gobs of frosting on the board and placed the uncut
    cake on top (holds the cake in place).  Then I frosted it.  I sliced
    the half cake and numbers in half lenghtwise (layers).  Then I placed
    the first layer on the frosted cake, covered it with the filling, put
    the second layer on top, and frosted it.  Then I put the bottom half of
    the numbers on top of that, put on some filling, covered them with the
    top half of the numbers, and frosted the tops only (the sides would
    have been very difficult, and I would have been a wreck!).
    
    Before the frosting hardened, I put thirty candle holders (obviously
    birthday-candle size!) around the edge of the bottom layer.  Then I
    decorated with white icing, outlining the three and the zero.
    
    It was delicious, and really not too much work.  It went much smoother
    than I had anticipated!
    
    The cake, however, would have fed more than 40, I think!  There were
    about 30 at the party, and the entire bottom layer was left.
    
    Susan

    Susan, thanks for the alterations to these recipes!!!
    
    One question/comment...I was always under the impression that the salt
    was the one thing you never cut back on in chocolate recipes because
    the salt enhances the taste of the chocolate. I learned this in an
    international cooking class. Anyone else heard of this?!!?
    
    Andrea

    As far as I can tell, salt just makes things taste salty.  I don't know
    if that is an "enhancement" for you or not; it's going to depend on if
    you like your chocolate salty.  I haven't cooked with salt for many
    years, and I don't miss it.  I think the idea about salt being needed
    in chocolate recipes was invented by the same salt lover who invented
    the one about salt being necessary in yeast dough (it is supposed to
    'regulate" the yeast in some manner) - I haven't put salt in bread
    dough in many years, either.  It does mena that when my family eats
    commercially-prepared foods (which we don't often do anyhow), they
    usually taste salty to us.  Salty bread is pretty weird!  So is salty
    cake, for that matter.

    As far as I know, Ann (.1), .2 is right.  I usually cut salt out of all
    my recipes.  I always at least halve the amount.  I'd heard the one
    about the yeast breads, but never the one about the chocolate.  No one
    complained at the party (or about any recipe in which I've left the
    salt out altogether).
    
    The only reason I know for using the salt is as a preservative.  And I
    associate with relative vultures, so I don't have to worry about
    preserving leftovers!
    
    Susan

    In commercial bread baking there is a delicate balance between
    proportions of sugar, salt, and yeast.  Salt retards the activity of
    yeast, sugar enhances activity.  It is very important that you don't
    pour the salt directly on top of the yeast since the salt will literally
    kill the yeast.  The proportions of salt, sugar, and yeast control the
    timing of the leavening processes and ultimately the texture of the
    finished product.  Without the salt (or to much sugar) the yeast reacts 
    to fast and you get large air pockets, or conversely to much salt (or
    not enough sugar) you could kill the yeast or end up waiting all day
    for it to rise as well as get a very poor texture.  I would recommend
    sticking to the recipe when it comes to breads and salt.

    -JFK-

    Well, I have never had any problems with poor texture in bread, and I
    bake it every other week.  Some of the older original bread recipes
    called for as much as a TABLESPOON of salt for 6 1/2 c or so of flour -
    that makes for noticeably salty bread.  Most of the newer recipes
    either don't call for salt at all, or call for a little bit of salt.
    Everyone in our house has to watch their blood pressure.

RE: salt in breads

After 20 years of baking bread, I've discovered the following rule of
thumb:

If you are baking a "country" loaf or a whole grain loaf, cutting the
salt in half will not really affect your final result.  In fact, the
dough rises faster.  In most cases, if butter is added as a fat, salt
is added anyway.  I do notice a "flatness" to the finished product
if oil is used, and no salt is added.  If baking a fancy bread, or
any bread where a extremely fine texture is desirable, I add 1 teaspoon
salt for every 4 loaves of bread.  This is all that is required to
maintain the texture - some may find the bread a little flat...if
so, 2 teaspoons for a 4-loaf recipe is my absolute max....no one has
ever noticed less salt at that level, even though I am adding only
1/2 teaspoon per large loaf of bread.

RE:  salt in chocolate

If you can find a good quality chocolate without salt already added
in the U.S.A., please post the address....perhaps they sold it w/o
salt at one time, but nowadays, with the long shelf life needed for
even premium food, salt is added as a preservative....at least here
in the bay area of the USA, I cannot find chocolate without salt.
Cocoa (no cocoa butter) doesn't usually have salt added, does it?

Most of my current cookbooks call for no salt or a "pinch" of salt
to taste in chocolate recipes, which leads me to believe the practice
is wide spread in this country...older cookbooks called for much more
salt for the same recipes.