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I made a no-oil sponge cake for a swiss roll. I filled it with fresh whipped cream and then stored the cake in the fridge. It has gone moldy within 4 days of filling it. Since filling it, it has been stored in the fridge. Why did it go moldy so quickly?

Caroline
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    Did you cover the swiss-roll? The air in the fridge may contain spores. What temperature is your fridge at? – BaffledCook Jun 15 '15 at 15:00
  • I agree that some local spore source can make a huge amount of difference with this -- I've lived places where all kinds of things got blue mold very quickly, and places where bread, etc. left in the fridge *for months* ended up very stale, but mold free. How to get rid of it is another question, I don't think simply covering things will save you since they are inevitably uncovered at some point. Dropping the fridge temp a few degrees would probably help. – goldilocks Jun 15 '15 at 15:39

2 Answers2

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Not sure exact fridge temp and it was stored in a plastic rubbermaid covered container. but I think oil does have something to do with it since other cakes with butter such as pound cake does not grow moldy so quickly.

user36210
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Oil acts as a preservative which slows down the growth of mould in the cake. Because you've removed a preservative, the bacteria grows at it's normal pace. Chilling it slows it down, but not as much as the oil would.

When I make bread I tend to put honey in it as this is a natural preservative and this works for me, gets another day out of the bread.

mickburkejnr
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    Sorry, but this answer has quite a few misconceptions. 1) Just because oil can preserve plant matter from aerobic organisms when it's submerged, it does not mean it acts as a preservative when used in a batter. 2) We don't have much bacterial growth in this case, the OP observed mold. 3) Oil wouldn't have slowed down bacterial growth in the cake at all (which is very low in a cake anyway) 4) you may get a day more of a honeyed bread softness wise, but not food safety wise. Most honeys are not bactericidal at the concentration used in bread. – rumtscho Jun 15 '15 at 14:03