In light of all the baking we've been doing recently in the Queen's Hamlet, I found this article most interesting. I'll leave a little taste here and you can then sample the rest. It starts in the Middle Ages and goes to the 19th century ...

18th century

Cake making soars in popularity, but the industrial revolution from 1760 sees a return to more stodgy baked goods.

This was when cake making really took off, says Dr Pennell.

The Art of Cookery, written by Hannah Glasse and published in 1747, contained a catalogue of cake recipes.

Integral to this was the development of the semi-closed oven. The development of baking is as much to do with technology as it is taste.

Fast-forward to the industrial revolution and Britain sees a return to heavy baking, where the working class eats bread and jam, says Prof Walter.

But at Easter, Christmas and other seasonal occasions, a richer diet would be available to even the poorer members of society.

Merchants and shopkeepers can afford ovens, and to bake.

See the complete article A Brief History of Baking

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updated by @tatiana-dokuchic: 01 Oct 2016 05:01:36PM

Thanks to Luke, who turned me on to this guy, I've been watching a lot of cooking videos by Jas. Townsend.

Here's one on the differences between an 18th century kitchen and a contemporary one:

Here's his Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxr2d4As312LulcajAkKJYw

And here's his website:

http://www.townsends.us/

Great cooking resources from this guy! He also delves into other concepts sometimes, too.

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