Shelf life of cake and pastries: storage features and recommendations

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

For a special occasion or anniversary, we definitely get a cake. This is the main symbol of any event, uplifting and setting in a festive mood. Today, manufacturers offer us them in a variety of interpretations - with chocolate, nuts, fruits, cottage cheese, all the variations can not be counted. It is these ingredients that are responsible for the shelf life of the cake and require compliance with a number of conditions.

Features of choice

The first thing we pay attention to when purchasing a cake or pastry is its taste. A confectionery product should attract us and make us want to eat it as soon as possible. But there are moments that indicate the expiration date of the cake, which many do not notice.

1. The first is the place where confectionery is stored. They should be placed in showcases specially designed for this purpose.
2. All equipment should be clean, neatly designed, with a wide viewing angle. Well, if the showcase is glazed on all sides, then you can see the purchased confectionery product in all details.
3. An important aspect here is the expiration date, which each manufacturerpoints to a box of cake.
4. The unnaturally bright colors of the cream and jewelry indicate a large amount of artificial colors and other harmful additives.
5. It's best to ask them to hold the box in their hands and read the ingredients. In a high-quality confectionery product that will benefit he alth, only natural products are used - cottage cheese, sour cream, cream, eggs.

Homemade cake

It is easier to decide on confectionery from the store, but homemade cakes require utmost care. To prepare such a cake, every housewife tries to choose only the highest quality and natural products, which, as a rule, are stored for a very short time. Cream is the tastiest ingredient here, and it is also the most dangerous because it most often consists of raw proteins or cream. The shelf life of a homemade cake depends on it. Experienced confectioners recommend:

- store this product exclusively in the refrigerator;

- cook immediately before use;

- use only fresh quality products;

- after making and impregnation, the shelf life of the cake in the refrigerator can reach eighteen hours, it all depends solely on the ingredients used in it.

On an industrial scale, this issue is not raised, and some products are stored for up to a month or longer due to the preservatives included in their composition, etc. It is not recommended to use such cakes, let alone give them to children. But there is in this list andexceptions.

Longest shelf life

Depending on which ingredients were used, the shelf life of the cake can vary significantly.

1. The least stored are natural homemade confectionery products with cream made from fresh proteins or sour cream, such a product should be consumed as soon as possible to avoid the development of harmful bacteria in it.
2. Cakes with candied fruits, yogurt or sweet cream cheese can be kept in the refrigerator at a temperature of +3 to +6 degrees for thirty-six hours.
3. Confectionery made from berries, fruits, with the addition of jelly and juice will lie quietly for up to three days, of course, provided that they do not additionally include cream. Even in small quantities, it significantly reduces the shelf life of the cake.
4. There are other types of creams - oil, more often they are prepared on a vegetable basis (from high-fat margarine), which does not deteriorate for a long time. Such a cake does not change its properties for five whole days. But it significantly loses to natural in terms of the quality of the ingredients used in it and their usefulness.
5. The leading position here is occupied by a waffle cake with nuts or another layer that includes preservatives, its shelf life is the longest and can vary from two weeks to a month.

Given these points, you can roughly calculate the shelf life of cakes, pastries and other confectionery.

Howproperly store

After buying a cake or making it yourself, it is important to provide it with the most optimal conditions for better preservation.

• Products based on cream and fruits should be immediately sent to the shelf in the refrigerator.
• Keep in mind that any cake absorbs odors very well, especially meat and sausage. In store options, special packaging is provided that protects the product well from external influences. Homemade cake should be packaged in a cardboard box or placed in a special dish with a tight-fitting lid.
• Cake is a bulky product and there is not always a place for it in the refrigerator, so many place it on the balcony in the cold season. Keep in mind that there is no constant temperature here, and its changes and high humidity can significantly reduce the shelf life of cream cakes.

Storage without refrigeration

Any food product feels much better in the refrigerator, but there are some confectionery products that are perfectly preserved without it. As a rule, in the store they also just lie on display cases, and their label indicates a shelf life of up to thirty days at a temperature of +18 degrees and relative humidity up to 75%. These are dry wafer cakes and cakes decorated with praline.

Biscuit and chocolate-based confectionery also keep well at room temperature, but you need to take into account the fat content of the glaze. ATwarmer it can leak and the cake will lose its aesthetically attractive original appearance.

New storage method - freezing

Experienced housewives know that the shelf life of a curd cake or a product with protein cream can be significantly increased if the product is frozen. This method has been used for a long time, mainly in cafes and restaurants, they use quick freezing, which cannot be done at home. But if the holiday is over, and part of the cake remains, this method will help keep it fresh until the next home tea party.

• Even if there are shapeless cake pieces, you can freeze them and make a new dessert based on them later.
• If there are a lot of products, it is better to divide them into portions and arrange them in separate packages, so it will be more convenient to use them later.
• You can save biscuit or other cakes separately, and later collect them into a cake.
• Products with fondant and jelly should not be frozen, they will lose their shape and simply melt.

Helpful tips when choosing a cake

When choosing a cake in the store, pay close attention to the labels that indicate the release date. Often in supermarkets, such a label is replaced with a new one.

Stay away from already cut and repackaged confectionery, as the manufacturer often hides their expired shelf life.

Do not buy this product off the street, they are positioned as homemade, but the shelf life of custard cakes is short(maximum 18 hours), and under open sunlight it is reduced several times.