The Bread Tip For Keeping Your Baked Goods From Going Stale

You baked a cake for a certain celebration, and now that there's a few slices removed, you're wondering how to preserve it. What to do? We've all been there. Whether you saran wrap the top, place the whole thing in a cake carrier, or sit it in the fridge uncovered, the exposed edges always seem to get rock-hard. Why is that? Typically, cakes are at their optimal freshness for a solid three days before the stale texture starts to take over. When a cake goes stale, it's basically the moisture being drawn out by the baked goods's exposure to oxygen, making it much drier. However, depending on the size of the cake and the number of people in your household, it can take more than three days to consume the whole thing. There's got to be a better way to store this sweet treat so that it stays fresh for longer and less is wasted. 

If you've ever heard of the slice of bread trick for keeping your brown sugar soft and free of pesky lumps, that actually goes hand in hand with cake. You see, a slice of bread holds just enough moisture to prevent brown sugar from drying out without causing any mold, as the escape of moisture is the ultimate problem. Turns out, because cake has a good amount of moisture in the mix, this trick works wonders at keeping your cake tasting good as new.

Whether you're storing your cake in the fridge or on the counter, all you have to do to keep it tasting fresh for longer is to simply press slices of bread up against the exposed cake, securing with toothpicks as needed. During this process, the bread is exposed to oxygen, meaning the moisture in the slices will draw out first, making the bread slices very hard. The cake isn't exposed, keeping all that precious moisture intact in order to keep that delicate crumb. This hack has become so successful, that even Redditors commenting on the Food Hack subreddit are speaking up, with one user noting that even if your loaf of bread is on the stale side, it will still do the trick.

Furthermore, while this method is great for keeping cake fresh, it can also be used for other baked goods as well. From cookies and brownies, to muffins and pastries, placing them in a sealed storage container with the addition of a slice of bread will balance the moisture, keeping them tasting delicious and tender for much longer.