Becoming a Baker

Masters at Work

by Glynnis MacNicol

An illuminating guide to a career as a baker, written by acclaimed journalist Glynnis MacNicol and based on the real-life experiences of an expert in the field—essential reading for someone considering a path to this challenging, yet rewarding profession.

Go behind the scenes and be mentored by the best to find out what it’s really like, and what it really takes, to become a baker.

Esteemed journalist Glynnis MacNicol takes readers to the front counters of bakeries and cafes to offer a candid portrait of modern baking. MacNicol shadows Mary Louise Clemens, the owner and head baker of Ladybird Bakery in Brooklyn, to reveal how bakers work and how they stand out in a neighborhood, community, and city. In Becoming a Baker, MacNicol reveals the path to becoming a baker, from education to the creation of new recipes, from negotiating with suppliers to the possibility of opening a small business.

Prepare the legendary “Brooklyn Blackout” cupcakes in Ladybird’s kitchen, shape croissants at the beloved Sea Wolf Bakery in Seattle, and learn why bakers think the Great British Bake-Off has captured our collective imagination.

As the food industry changes to meet the 21st century, the role of a baker is becoming more and more central to our lives. For those passionate about nourishment, working with your hands, and the place of locally-owned businesses in communities, this is the most valuable informational interview you’ll ever have—required reading for anyone considering this career.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food

145 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Julie Barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Becoming a baker: masters at work by Glynnis MacNicol
Story starts out with a woman who bakes at a shop in NYC, a suburb and a snow storm is coming...
Lots of history and I found how baking soda came about, so cool!
Love following the baker around for a full day starting at 330 am, wow backbreaking and always on your feet. love hearing about the creative side of things.
Love hearing all the tips and secrets along the way.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect little look into baking as a profession, hobby, and cultural force

[Julie H. Ernstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Glynnis MacNicol's Becoming a Baker. In the space of only 130 pages she presents chatty yet super informative glimpses into the world of professional baking from the experience of owners and select employees at Ladybird Bakery (Park Slope, Brooklyn, NYC), My Grandma Baked a Cookie (Pocono Lake, PA), and Sea Wolf Bakery (Seattle, WA). She includes a short little precis of the history of baking, tackles formal and informal paths to careers as bakers, and reflects on baked goods in pop culture and the role of television shows such as Sex and the City, reality cooking shows, entire cable television networks devoted to food, and the growing world of food-related "influencers" on social network platforms such as Instagram. All told, this was a super interesting read and you may be sure that I have now added consuming at least one slice of "Blackout cake" to my culinary bucket list.

[Justine Anweiler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am millennial who loves baking so therefore all the recent pop culture references that have shaped bakeries today were wildly fascinating. I really enjoyed the mix of interviews, anecdotes and baking history.

This book is so good for anyone curious about baking or how mainstream media affects our purchasing behaviours of small luxury digestibles. Ie. How the tv show Fraser normalized daily café culture, and later Sex and the City made cupcakes a global phenomenon 🤯😍🥳

So quick and so digestible 🍾🥂

[Chronically Well Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what the purpose of this book is. Is it to help me decide if I want to be a baker? Is it to help me decide which path to becoming a baker is for me? Is it just a look inside professional baking that I won't easily see elsewhere? Whatever it was, I enjoyed it. My favorite parts were the 'Brief History of Baking' chapter and the look at how pop culture has been affected by baking, or pop culture has changed baking. It's a quick read, so give it a chance if you can get your hands on it.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives some basic information about becoming a baker. I'm glad I read the book because although I love baking, I don't want it as a career. One thing is for sure, I know I don't want to wake up at 3:00 am to bake cakes, and I want to spend the holidays with my family, not filling pastry orders.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book yesterday and at 130 pages (including Appendix) was a perfect Sunday afternoon read. If you love to bake like I do, it’s fun to read about the inside operations of a bakery. Two words to remember, Brooklyn Blackout.

[Gail Richmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small volume of vignettes and details on bakeries and bakers as well as the contemporary avocation and curiosity about baking as viewed not only on cooking shows (ala Food Network) but particularly The Great British Baking Shiw.

[Stephanie D.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that gives you a very basic intro into the life of baking.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening. I knew about the hard-work, but now I know there's a new track: become a social media baker. Not disparaging this track!

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and entertaining.

[AKH · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Glynnis MacNichol’s memoir, and I love The Great British Baking show - so I picked up this book. Also, apparently it’s mandatory to take up baking during the global pandemic, based on the stores being sold out of yeast.

“These are, to put it mildly, chaotic times that we live in. The world can seem wildly out of control and relentlessly intruding into our lives. There is something deeply comforting in knowing, knowing, that 3 cups of all-purpose or bread flour (more for dusting), 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt plus some cornmeal for coating a towel (not terry cloth) will, if you follow the instructions, result in Jim Lahey’s famous no-knead bread”

This book was delightfully written. It provided historical context, so I felt like I was learning something I haven’t learned watching baking shows.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written book about how baking become a profession for different characters. A good survey on their life stories and career path.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a bit disappointing compared to the others I have read in terms of its depth and substance. It was so short and did not cover that many bakers.

[Kaye Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read with some interesting points about baking as an industry and hobby and how baking is evolving with the advent of social media.