Darra Goldstein

Publications, Trade

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets
Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets

By Darra Goldstein

Published 2015

  • About

publications, trade, which arose in late-nineteenth-century Europe and the United States, were a vital source of information for both commercial bakers and pastry chefs in the burgeoning restaurant and hotel business. Trade journal publishers also produced high-quality professional pastry manuals.

For most of the 1800s, the confectionery shown in books remained well beyond the skill level and customer base of most bakers—their authors wrote and cooked mainly for wealthy patrons. Only at the century’s end, with printing techniques greatly improving and transportation and industry making baking products widely available and affordable, did trade publications geared for middle-class tastes, celebrations, and pocketbooks arise.