Why You Should Avoid The Pre-Sliced Desserts At A Fancy Restaurant

Ordering dessert at a fancy restaurant is quite a treat. It's something that you didn't have to make yourself at home, there is usually a wide array of options, and when that sweet delight is brought to your table it looks absolutely gorgeous — perfectly sliced, artistically plated, and oh-so tantalizing to the eye.

But those pre-sliced desserts may not be all they're cracked up to be, chef and cookbook author Saura Kline tells Tasting Table. What you believe is a slice from a freshly baked carrot cake or crème brulée cheesecake, could be days old. And when you're dining at a fancy restaurant, forking out your hard-earned dollars for what's usually more expensive food at such an establishment, you'd be well within your right to believe you're getting the best ingredients, prepared shortly after your order, and promptly served.

Unfortunately, the reality is that pre-sliced desserts are part of a bigger whole — like a whole cake sliced up into individual portions. And the demand for a particular cake generally won't be enough to finish a full cake on the day it is baked. So restaurants tend to keep those cakes for a couple of days (they can generally last for up to a week, depending on the cake) and lob off a neat slice when a customer orders it.

A dessert kept for a few days doesn't necessarily mean it will go bad or be a health risk. Stored properly in a refrigerator at the correct temperature, a dessert (depending on the type of dessert) can last three to four days, or up to a week. But, the longer it stands, the less fresh it becomes, so your tasting experience of a slice freshly baked or prepared will be very different from one that is a couple of days old.

The longer a dessert stands the less fresh the ingredients become — basically, they get more and more stale with each passing day. In cakes, for example, the moisture that was absorbed by the starch in the baking process starts to break free, so the starch recrystallizes. This gives the cake the texture that we associate with being stale. If the cake — or any dessert — isn't stored properly (usually in an airtight container) moisture from the air absorbs into the surface and makes it the perfect environment for bacteria to grow. That's when your dessert becomes a health risk.

Desserts are also often commercially prepared, especially in chain restaurants that aim to deliver the same experience of dishes at every outlet. This means that they are prepared in a central kitchen and then delivered to the various stores — the additional time between the desserts being freshly prepared and being served on a plate at your table.