In this article, we unpack baking as an art and begin by answering the question:
Is baking an art?
Baking is an art because the baker or pastry chef blends science and technical skill with individual creativity and imagination to craft baked goods that are artistic displays of their ability and can be appreciated for their visual beauty, aroma, texture, and, ultimately, taste.
Baking and pastry art is part of culinary art, and it’s a misnomer to think that cooking is an art and baking is a science only, not an art. The fact is that just like cooking, baking is both an art and a science.
Our articles on 1. the science of baking, 2. cooking as a science and art and 3. the science of cooking explore these topics, and we encourage you to read them. If baking is an art, what makes it an art:
5 Reasons that make baking an art.
1. Baking has a distinctly artistic side to it.
Students studying baking and pastry arts often have to undertake classes that develop their artistic skills. Here, students’ creativity is stimulated as they learn some drawing skills, work with shapes and colours, and learn to design cakes.
In doing so, students learn the connection between visual art and baking and developing their skills in this aspect helps the baker become an expert in baking.
In addition, to truly master the art of baking, the pastry chef must learn to blend their technical skills with the art side of baking to create baked goods that taste and look good.
Ultimately, the art of baking reflects the baker’s technical skills, including their understanding and use of science to produce baked goods that taste good and have the desired texture and aroma and look good, reflecting their creativity and artistic skill.
2. From a few basic ingredients, new formulas are created.
In baking, recipes are called formulas; new formulas are constantly created from only a few baking ingredients. This is what art is.
An artist using a few primary colours, their skill and creativity can keep on creating new artwork.
In like manner, the baker starts with a few fundamental ingredients for baking a cake, like flour, sugar, butter, eggs, milk and baking powder.
They then use their technical skills, understanding of the science of baking and creativity to manipulate these ingredients and add others, according to what they have in mind, to create a new baked good.
In so doing, a baker or pastry chef can, for example, create a layered cake of various colours, of which the outer design is decorated and finessed into an artistic form.
3. It allows for creative expression.
Art is about creative expression, and bakers and pastry chefs are stimulated when they combine their technical skills in baking with new baking formulas and artistic designs when decorating baked goods like cakes.
Art is about creative expression, and bakers and pastry chefs are stimulated when they use their technical skills in baking and experiment with ingredients and measurements to create new formulas from scratch or build on existing ones to make them better, thus creating bread, cakes and pastries that are unique in taste and appearance.
There is a further expression of creativity when they can add new artistic designs to decorate their baked goods.
4. Time and practice are needed to develop skills.
An artist needs many years to master their craft. Our daughter has attended art school for several years and still has much to learn.
The same as in the art of baking. Culinary schools lay the foundation, but it takes many years for a baker or pastry chef to become highly skilled in baking.
Even when bakers and pastry chefs follow a ready-made formula, it still takes time to perfect their technical and creative skills to create aesthetically appealing baked goods with the perfect texture and taste.
5. Edible art pieces are created.
Art is about creating visually appealing pieces of work. In baking, there’s a difference in that beautifully decorated cakes are not only art masterpieces, but they have the added benefit of being edible: a piece of artwork that can be both admired for its visual appeal and also appreciated for its taste.
Hence, such artwork becomes especially important when celebrating special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and weddings.
Cakes, on such occasions, not only mark the event but, because they are aesthetically pleasing, are used as centrepieces and add to the event’s décor. So often, the cake is on display so everyone can admire the artwork of the cake.
The importance of art in baking.
Visual presentation is essential.
In the culinary world, it is often said that we eat with our eyes first. Whether a chef specialises in cooking or baking, they need to know how to make their end product visually desirable and appetising for the consumer.
Of course, this is also crucial for marketing their food and baked goods.
It brings a sense of achievement and satisfaction.
Chefs who cook derive great satisfaction when others enjoy their food as they derive pleasure from cooking for others.
Bakers and pastry chefs are no different. They firstly enjoy a sense of achievement when they see and appreciate their finished masterpiece, especially after much hard work went into producing it.
Secondly, they feel personally fulfilled when others, in turn, derive pleasure from the baked good they produce, and a specially baked birthday or wedding cake becomes a point of conversation not only for its visual appeal but also for its taste.
It challenges the limits of art in baking.
Cake artists are continually pushing back the boundaries of creativity in cake art. They have moved way beyond traditional cake-making to creating designs that are simply extraordinary and visually dazzling art masterpieces that reflect the technical and artistic skill of the baker.
Cooking as a form of art.
Cooking is an art form. In it, the culinarian purposely expresses their technical culinary skill with individual creativity and imagination to craft food meant to fulfil a basic human need but artistically arranged on a plate to be appreciated for its visual beauty, aroma, texture, and ultimately taste.
The whole food-making process is an art, from the preparation of, for example, vegetables that must look good and be tasty to the cooking of food with technical skill and the final arrangement that must appease the sense of sight, smell, touch and taste.
For a more insightful read on cooking as an art form, we encourage you to read our article on culinary art and science. It includes an understanding of the connection between cooking and art.
