Like fashion, baking also explores, reinvents, and re-imagines possibilities. This means that baked delicacies that were popular in the 1990s are less so today. An example of this is the ice-cream cake which was a rave a few decades ago but since then is rarely served or eaten. Every year adds something new to a baker’s recipe and allows the thousands of bakers time to experiment with new ingredients and presents them with the opportunities to explore, reinvent and re-imagine what they can bake.
This year holds tremendous promise among bakers most of who are very gregarious and like to share recipes with each other to pave the culinary road ahead. Below are descriptions of a few techniques and ingredients that chefs are experimenting with and which will be used to make culinary delights you’ll find at a bakery near you.
Bakers are developing a Soft Spot for Brown Butter
Brown butter or Noisette butter is quite popular among chefs who bake spicy or salty food and is also gaining popularity among chefs who bake sweet delicacies as well. Expect more baked foods to be made using brown butter in 2019.
Use of Natural Colours Will Grow
Many baked foods today are finished using artificial colors. Certainly, the rich chocolate cake served at the local bakery has some, if not a lot of artificial coloring. However, in 2019, many bakers are choosing to avoid using artificial colors in favor of natural colors extracted from fruits, vegetables, and other plants. Not only do natural colors enhance the appearance of finished baked foods, but they also enrich its taste. Baked food made with naturally extracted colors is also healthier to eat.
Quirky is in, Looking Perfect is Out
Cakes need not look like perfect sculptures once they're finished, in fact, it's better if they don't and instead look offbeat and have a quirky shape. Baking is supposed to be enjoyable as is eating baked food. Rather than focusing on the aesthetic appearance of a cake or other baked foods, a greater emphasis will be placed on enjoying eating it instead.
Retro Baking
Just like in fashion, in baking sometimes older trends make a comeback too. This is likely to be the case in 2019 as well. Expect more nostalgic baked treats like tea cakes that were frequently served with tea a few decades ago. When searching for a good dessert at an upmarket bakery or bistro in 2019, expect to see scones on the menu.
Add a Tangy Touch to a Sweet Dessert
Finally in 2019 many sweet dishes will be accompanied by a tangy flavor. The tanginess that will sow into desserts will make the baked foods served in 2019 more elegant and fresh.
Its only early January and the year is young. Among leading chefs the road ahead has been planned yet there may yet be surprises and detours in the year ahead. While baking is taking a more traditional route today by using natural flavors and discarding aesthetics in favor of authenticity, there could be surprises ahead as well. The beneficiaries of the continuous experimentation and effort from bakers will be lovers of baked foods who will be able to eat desserts never served before and desserts that were last enjoyed during childhood.
This article is written by Chef Eureka Araujo, Pastry Chef at Academy of Pastry Arts
