One problem many people encounter when ordering Middle Eastern desserts (or any food, for that matter) online is how to store them to make sure they stay fresh and delicious for as long as possible. At MidEast Sweets, we have years of experience with our products, and we can help you figure out how best to store and serve your order, and how to know if desserts you have now are still good or growing stale. Follow our guidelines and you'll never have to throw away a stale dessert again!

Most of the products we sell are variations on traditional baklava. This includes our Burma, lady fingers, ballorie, bassma, mini rose, and bird's nest pastries. We recommend that our baklava products be stored at room temperature in an airtight container. They should last for two to three weeks under normal conditions. As they age, you will probably notice that the pastries get slightly chewy and juicier as time passes. Eventually, they'll begin to dry out, which is generally an indication that they are approaching the end of their shelf life.

Refrigerating your dessert will give you up to two more weeks. Extended refrigeration can sometimes make your desserts hard and chewy--but this can be avoided if the refrigeration is mild, so you can set your fridge to a "low" setting or store the product in one of the vegetable drawers. You may wonder about freezing, but we do not recommend it, as thawed pastry will end up slightly soggy.

For our other dessert products, the room temperature storage option is the best. Please note that freezing mamoul and namora is an even worse idea than it is with baklava. Freezing sucks the natural moisture out of these desserts, making them hard and brittle over time. These desserts are best enjoyed within two to three weeks of their arrival. You can extend the life of these pastries by storing them in airtight containers with a piece or two of bread, which will dry out first and keep your desserts moist and delicious!