Hello everyone, in the UK supermarkets like Tesco and Asda they have these little cupcakes they sell and its usually twelve in number inside a pack ,they are not kept in the fridge and they still have a long shelf life and when you eat it, its still soft. My question is how come the cakes are still soft and has not gone bad despite the long time it spends on the shelf, its there a special ingredient that I need to add to my cupcakes/cakes for it too stay like these too .thank you for your help

How long is the shelf life?

The packaging prevents them from drying out and helps to maintain moisture. In most cases, the moisture is what eventually causes them to go bad and get moldy. If they aren't moldy within two weeks, there's most definitely a preservative added.

I agree its the packaging that keeps it moist. If I put a cupcake in a ziplock bag it will not dry out for anything..actually it gets gummy.

As for mold...depends on the recipes. Most cake (not icing) will dry out to dust before it will grow mold. American buttercream is the same way. The amt of sugar and small amt of liquid don't allow mold spores to grow. That's what they mean by non-potentially hazardous. I do believe most large scale bakeries like that do add preservatives to all of their stuff for longer shelf life but almost everything I make would dry out behind recongition before it would mold.

Hello everyone, thank you for. Your replies, I guess. I will be putting my cakes in plastic wrapping sometimes because I like the texture of those cupcakes, thank you all.