Is honey the reason my homemade nut roll never spoils

CyberTone
CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I bake 8 homemade nut rolls for holidays using flour, butter, milk, eggs, yeast, walnuts, sugar, and honey. One nut roll is 18 slices of 1 ounce (28 grams). The leftover rolls that I don't give away I usually thoroughly wrap and freeze; then I take one out throughout the year. I cut, weigh, and log each slice in my Food Diary, so I know when I have taken a nut roll out of the freezer and each day I have eaten one slice.

I recently found one third of a nut roll in the refrigerator. It had no signs of mold and did not smell bad. When I looked through my Food Diary, it shows I must have taken this nut roll out of the freezer sometime in June 2015, since I had logged 12 slices in June and July 2015 and none since then. I did not bake this past winter since my oven was broken.

This nut roll has been in the refrigerator for about nine months. I figured I probably won't die, so I just ate one slice. We shall see what happens.

I am wondering if the honey that soaked through the nut rolls as they sat through the second rising process acts as a preservative. The recipe uses 8 tablespoons of honey, so that comes out to 1 tablespoon of honey per nut roll, which really is not a lot of honey. I have noticed that baklava, which also contains honey, rarely spoils, and can be kept in the refrigerator for a long time.

If it is not the honey, what is keeping the nut roll from spoiling?

Replies

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    edited March 2016
    Since it has a shelf life of like a 100 years it could be a factor I expect. If you use coconut oil that could help preserve it too perhaps.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    Interesting. Honey never spoils, so I guess it's possible. I'd be concerned about the dairy though. If I don't see you around on the MFP boards tomorrow I guess we can deduce how this little experiment worked out :wink:
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    Since it has a shelf life of like a 100 years it could be a factor I expect. If you use coconut oil that could help preserve it too perhaps.

    Thanks for the tip on coconut oil. I've never tried it, but it sounds like it might be worth a try to use in other recipes. My recipe for nut roll doesn't use oil, just the butter and the ground walnuts.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    My biggest concern would be the texture. Was it drier than normal. I would actually expect it to dry out faster than it molds (like the McDonald's that "doesn't mold" because it dries out first.
  • tnm7760
    tnm7760 Posts: 109 Member
    Sugar is a great preservative and gives everything a longer shelf life. And honey is good for... Forever. So yes, probably.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    auddii wrote: »
    My biggest concern would be the texture. Was it drier than normal. I would actually expect it to dry out faster than it molds (like the McDonald's that "doesn't mold" because it dries out first.

    It was only a little bit drier than when it was thawed from the freezer, which is not really dry at all. The nut filling makes up the bulk of the roll, so that keeps it soft. The top of the roll is more dry and crumblier than when it comes out of the oven.

    It is calorie dense because of the butter and nuts, so a one quarter inch slice is about 110 Calories, but it still tastes good. Here is a pic of the remaining 5 servings.

    mp470nmdpqdv.jpg
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    CyberTone wrote: »
    If it is not the honey, what is keeping the nut roll from spoiling?

    http://moldblogger.com/top-3-things-mold-needs-to-grow/

    Mold needs:
    • Moisture
    • Food
    • Temperatures from about 70 – 90 degrees [F] are the most conducive for mold growth.

    Maybe it was too cold and/or dry in the freezer. Could be the honey too. Cheers.

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