Pages of the Past

The Rise of Commercial Bakeries

When baking powder first came on the market in the U.S. in the mid-19th century it provided consumers with an easier and more consistent way of leavening baked goods than yeast. For decades after its invention, companies selling baking powder fought vicious advertising wars using traveling salesmen, trade cards, free giveaways, and cookbooks all targeted to women. But when home baking started to decline in the early 20th century, so did baking powder sales. To combat this, Calumet Baking Powder Co. published Cakes and Pastries in 1926, a cookbook for professional bakers rather than home bakers to promote Calumet Baking Powder in the professional sphere. The recipes and baking tips included in Cakes and Pastries illustrate how the baking industry was changing as home baking declined, the standard for baked goods rose, and commercial bakeries became industrialized.

The Decline in Home Baking

By the 1920’s more women were entering the workforce, leaving them less time to cook and bake for their families. As a result, people frequented restaurants and bakeries more often. The first half of the 20th century saw a sharp increase in the number of meals eaten at restaurants and in the number of goods, such as bread, purchased from commercial bakeries rather than made in the home. This business boom led to the expansion of the commercial bakery industry.

This expansion is reflected in Cakes and Pastries. Some recipes produce quantities up to 50 dozen, a clear sign of the mass production the market was now demanding. Author Cleve Carney also emphasized ways to make products look more appealing, ways to cut cost, and included “cheap” versions of recipes. Better-looking products and lower cost would help bakers one up potential competitors. This would be important because as the baking industry grew, competition amongst bakeries likely did as well.

Commercial Bakeries and Industrialization

The rise in industrialization was reflected in commercial bakeshops. The previously mentioned increase in demand for commercial bakeries meant bakeries needed to find ways to increase their production. Just like how new electronic appliances were making their way into American homes in the early 20th century, bakeries were taking advantage of new technologies to make production faster and more efficient. Krispy Kreme, which opened in 1937, managed to mechanize nearly all their doughnut production both first to increase efficiency and because customers enjoyed seeing the modern, industrial baking process.

Cakes and Pastries includes 4 different doughnut recipes that are specifically made by a machine. The machine is referred to as a “cake mixer” and although it is not described, how it is used in the cookbook implies that it is just a large industrial mixer. The fact that these recipes specify they are machine made when no other recipe in the book does implies that it was a new technology and not yet the usual way production is done.

The Increasingly High Standards for Baked Goods

Intricately decorated pastries or cakes had been popular among the upper classes well before the 1920’s, with piping designs becoming the most popular form of decorating by the end of the 19th century. But, in the early 20th century, these elaborate baked goods became more accessible to middle class Americans. Increased efficiency in bakeries, cheaper means of production, and an economic boom meant more people could afford these products. Because of this, the demand for and popularity of that style skyrocketed. People began to seek out commercial bakeries to get products they were not capable of making themselves.

Cakes and Pastries includes multiple illustrations of elaborately decorated cakes that would have been seen in bakeries in the 1920’s. Not only would these cakes have been time consuming to make, they also would have required a level of skill that the average person would not have as piping technique takes time and practice to master. In the late 19th century, pastry chefs were opening schools to teach others within the industry piping techniques. Although Cakes and Pastry does not mention taking classes on piping, it does recommend that a baker should take the time to “attain skill enough to decorate artistically and rapidly,” (Carney, 5-6).

Sources

Barbas, Sammantha. “Just Like Home: ‘Home Cooking’ and the Domestication of the American Restaurant.” Gastronomica, vol. 2, 2002, pp. 43–52.

Carney, Cleve. Cakes and Pastries. Calumet Baking Powder Co., 1926

Charsley, Simon R. “Confectionary and Icing.” Wedding Cakes and Cultural History, Routledge, 1992, pp. 64–81.

Civitello, Linda. “Baking Powder Wars.” University of California, UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2017.

De La Pena, Carolyn. “Eating Technology at Krispy Kreme.” The Larder: Food Studies Methods from the American South, edited by John T Edge et al., University of Georgia Press, 2013, pp. 188–215.