Cake Vs Pastry: Must Know Similarities and Differences


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The correct meanings of cakes and pastries have eluded people for a very long time. During the beginning of my baking journey, I was also confused by the many different interpretations of a cake and a pastry. With a quick dive into the knowledge of several experienced bakers in my life, I’ve set out to find the meanings of cake and pastry.

A cake is a baked good made with leavening agents, flour, fat, and sugar, while a pastry is a baked good that is made of a dough base primarily consisting of flour and fat. Cakes are considered to be anything that has been patted or compacted, while pastries are considered layered dough.

While the difference between a cake and a pastry can be simple to define, the answer so happens to be not as easy as I initially expected. These two terms are used all around the world, however, everyone has their own interpretation of the words. A deeper dive is required in order to understand the true differences.

Cake Vs Pastry: Similarities and Differences

CakePastry
IngredientsBaking powder/soda, wheat,
sugar, milk, eggs
Wheat, water, butter (fats)
CompositionPatted and compact massMostly layered dough
ShapesAll shapes, mostly bigger
shapes
Smaller shapes

People’s experience with the words cake and pastry can influence their own definitions of these words.

For example, a pastry chef that works in a restaurant is in charge of baking anything sweet starting from bread and all the way down to cakes.

Many people consider pastry as the word for a dessert. This is why a pastry is technically considered to be a form of cake depending on the way the words are phrased. The distinct difference between the two is the components/ingredients used to prepare both items.

While I like to do my mixing by hand, I much rather prefer using a Stand Mixer instead. I recently wrote an article that talks about the 3 Best Stand Mixers that bakers can buy in each stage of their baking journey. After reviewing a few stand mixers, the Best Overall Mixer was the KitchenAid Artisan Tilt-Head Stand Mixer. You can check out this stand mixer on Amazon!

What is a cake?

While looking up “what is a cake”, the definition that came up was:

“An item of soft, sweet food made from a mixture of flour, shortening, eggs, sugar, and other ingredients, baked and often decorated.”

wikipedia

The “other ingredients” in cakes consist of baking powder or baking soda and sometimes both. These leavening agents used in cakes are different than the ingredients used in pastries.

Cakes are patted and shaped into a compact mass. They can vary from simple mixes of ingredients that are thrown in together and baked in the oven to a complex work of art that takes hours to make like wedding cakes.

*Side Note: If you ever wanted to know The Real Difference Between A Sponge Cake and A Butter Cake. I wrote an article about it that you can find here!

What I Consider To Be A Cake

Cakes are used in events such as birthdays and anniversaries. They are also commercially produced all around the world for many different occasions.

*By the way, if you are interested in knowing how to get Stuck Parchment Off of Your Cake and how to Prevent It, I recently wrote an article about Removing Stuck Parchment Paper, which you can find here!

What is a pastry?

While looking up “what is a pastry”, the definition that came up was:

“A dough of flour, shortening, and water, used as a base and covering in baked dishes such as pies.”

Wikipedia

The word “pastry” can refer to a baked good or a certain type of dough. For example, puff pastry and filo pastry are both layers of dough that could be used for baking a lot of different things.

A pastry is a sweet dessert that has solid fats to make it more appealing at room temperatures. These solid fats at room temperatures include butter, lard, or shortening. These fats are mixed with flour and a little bit of water to make the dough base.

This dough base then gets layered and shaped in the small shape of a pastry.

Pastries differ from cakes in that they have dough ingredients in them instead of leavening ingredients. These dough ingredients are yeast and fat. Since pastries are very fat-heavy, it brings out the texture and flavor of the pastries.

A delicious addition to pastries is that they can be formed into a dessert that has a flaky and delicate texture!

This can’t be achieved with cakes since pastries use shortening or butter which is folded with layers of flour dough.

These layers are folded multiple times to create staggered fat/dough combinations. When this is placed in the oven to bake, it puffs up and forms the pastry that we all love to crunch on. This makes it a perfect combination for breakfast desserts.

What I Consider To Be A Pastry

Similarities: Both cakes and pastries are made out of flour and fats and served as desserts. They can both be decorated and used for many occasions such as birthdays and breakfasts.

Besides, I know that no one would be upset if either a cake or a pastry gets served on the table. I know I wouldn’t!

*By the way, I recently wrote an article about The Best Ways to Bake Pastry Dough without An Oven. This article talks bout all the ways to cook your pastry dough if you don’t have an oven nearby. You can check out this article here!

Is this a cake or a pastry?

POP QUIZ: Is this a cake or pastry?

As mentioned before, the outlook on cakes and pastries is associated with the way that each individual defines it. However, after looking through and breaking down the definitions for myself, I personally consider the above to be a pastry since it is made from a dough base.

*By the way, if you’re looking for some new cookie sheets/baking pans to replace for your kitchen, I recently came across the Perfect Nonstick Cookie Sheets / Baking Sheets Set that I got for myself and they work great! You can check out these Nonstick Cookie Sheet Set on Amazon!

Is a cupcake a pastry?

As a general rule, a cupcake is not considered to be a pastry. A cupcake is considered to be a small cake, designed to serve one person, that is baked in a small thin paper or aluminum cup. A cupcake is usually made of the same ingredients that a cake is made from, only in smaller proportions.

The word “cupcake” is named that way for a specific reason. A cupcake is essentially a cake baked in a small cup for individual serving. Other people also call it a cake in a cup. Both mean the same thing.

Since a cupcake has ingredients that would usually be used to bake a cake, it is considered to be a cake. However, since it is usually baked in a small paper or aluminum cup, it is considered to be a small cake.

*By the way, I consider decorating my cupcakes correctly to be the most important step to presenting a perfect-looking cupcake. I recently came across a Full Set of Cupcake Decorating Kit that has everything you need to decorate your cupcakes! You can check out this set on Amazon!

Whats the difference between batter and dough?

As a whole, batter is made with a mixture of flour, shortening, eggs, sugar, and a leavening agent. Dough is made with just flour, shortening, yeast, and water while missing any dry leavening agents that are used in cakes such as baking powder or baking soda.

The batter used to make cakes is usually wetter than the doughy batter used in pastries. Pastry batter usually contains only water as a wet ingredient while cake batter contains lots of liquid ingredients such as eggs, oil, and sometimes even milk.

This creates one of the distinct differences between cake batter and pastry dough.

*Side Note: You might also want to know how to Store Your Cake Batter The Right Way. I wrote an article about Storing Cake Batter The Right Way, which you can check out here!

To Summarize…

Cakes and pastries are considered staples in the world of baking. When I started baking, I always wondered the difference between the two of them. However, as I have found out when I had just started down my baking journey, the answer to this question is mostly in the eye of the beholder!

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Fainna

My name is Fainna! I've been baking desserts ever since I was 10 years old with my grandma passing her baking wisdom down to me with every passing day. I hope you find these tips and tricks helpful here at my little Baking Nook!

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