Maybe it’s your birthday. Perhaps you’re just craving something sweet.
Either way, you grab a cake mix, crack two eggs, add oil, pop it all in the oven, and bam—you’ve got a cake.
Even if you want to go the extra mile, baking a cake from scratch isn’t that difficult.
But a couple of hundred years ago? Oh, it was an ordeal.
Let’s check out how baking changed for the better!
Timeline of Top Baking Trends, Techniques, and Innovations
While historical baked goodies can be incredibly comforting, I won’t be showing you how to make any today.
This post is all about the context behind the historical techniques and trends.
Earliest Known Form of Baking: How Bread Came to Be
I’m willing to bet the first baked goodie ever was bread.
But our ancestors didn’t start making artisanal loaves right off the bat. Instead, things likely started with the simple processing of wild grass grains.
Maybe they would roast and grind the seeds. Then, perhaps they tried adding water and cooking wheat grains over a flame to make a sort of porridge or paste.
Soon, they realized that when a thin layer of this paste is set over a fire, it hardens and forms flatbread.
All these were baby steps that brought our ancestors closer to bread-making as we know it today.
How long ago was the first step?
Archeologists can’t tell for sure. For a while, they thought bread first popped up around the Neolithic times.
However, they found 14,000-year-old breadcrumbs. So, it’s safe to say humans have been baking for a really long time!
Ancient Egypt: Yeast, Molds, and the Bread That Helped Build Pyramids
Although bread was around for a while, many people agree that ancient Egyptians pushed baking forward.
They made ceramic bell-shaped bread molds, used yeast as far back as 1,500 BCE, and documented their baking skills through hieroglyphics.
Fun Fact: Someone actually harvested yeast from artifacts, studied the baking techniques, and made bread ancient-Egypt-style!
Roman Empire: Bakers’ Guild and Stamped Goods
For a while, baking was considered a domestic skill in Rome. However, it was pretty tedious, and well-to-do homemakers wanted to free their time.
Enter baking as a profession.
By 168 BCE, Rome had its first Bakers’ Guild, the Collegium Pistorum!
Bakers in the Guild were recognized as skilled artisans with specialties. They could stamp their names into their creations (see: the 2,000-something-year-old preserved loaf found in Pompeii).
They also got to pass the trade to their children.
That said, things weren’t always jolly for the bakers.
You couldn’t just withdraw from the Guild and pursue a different career—once a baker, always a baker.
Middle Ages: Baker’s Dozen and a Social Divide
Because refining flour was tricky, light-colored baked goods were a luxury few could afford during the Middle Ages. Most folks had to settle for rye and black bread.
But there was still an attempt at fairness via the baker’s dozen.
You see, short weighting was common among dishonest bakers—so much so that people needed laws to put an end to the scam.
A baker had to add one extra loaf on every order of a dozen loaves to guarantee the customers were getting their money’s worth.
Colonial America: Gauging Oven Temp by Hand
You can argue all you want about how annoying it is to have an oven that runs hot or cold. Still, the temperature control knob is a luxury bakers didn’t always have.
Housewives in colonial America had to open the oven door and stick their hands inside to gauge the temperature. Ouch!
18th Century: Cake in American Cookery
Baking and cake-making became more accessible with time.
In the 1700s, Amelia Simmons published the first American cookbook and included recipes for queen’s cake, buckwheat cake, and plump cake (a total showstopper).
But it wasn’t till the 19th century that cake became the light, spongy dessert we know and love today.
19th Century: Commercial Yeast, Baking Powder, Roller Mills, Oh My!
The mid-19th century brought some game-changers:
- The first standardized commercial yeast hit the market.
- Baking powder was invented.
- Steam-powered roller milling made white flour more accessible.
Out of all three events, I’d have to say that baking powder was the most revolutionary. It meant that bakers had better control of the leavening process of their cakes.
20th Century: Gas Ovens and Cake Mixes
By the early 1900s, most households had gas ovens. But they also had another nifty box—the cake mix.
Suddenly, baking cakes became that much more convenient!
21st Century: Baking for Fun, Aesthetics, and Gut Health
Nowadays, baking is an art form, a hobby, and a science. To really study baking, you might cross paths with chemistry, 3D printing, and marketing.
But even if you’re a casual baker, you must have noticed healthy-eating trends taking over, from gluten-free to paleo.
Final Thoughts
Don’t you feel lucky to be born at a time when baking is super accessible?
I’m grateful that I get to enjoy the smell and taste of freshly baked goodies in my kitchen, with zero manual milling or bulky mud ovens needed!
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.