If you try to define 'baking' in the most general sense, it usually means anything that has flour at is base and is cooked in an oven. Bread however forms the basis for all the baking that has followed. 

Bread is considered to be a staple food. This means it is a basic and necessary food item. Grains are ground into flour and mixed with water to make a dough. When that dough is baked, it becomes bread.

In Western countries yeast is usually added to the dough to help it rise. In other parts of the world, people may prefer flat breads. Some examples are aesh from Egypt, naan from Indian and tortillas and tacos eaten in South and Central America.

Many types of flour can be used to make bread: white, wholemeal, semolina and spelt, atta/chapati flour just to name a few.

History. The first evidence of breadmaking dates to 65,000 years ago by Aboriginal Australians who ground seed, mixed it with water and placed it over a fire. 15,000 years later the ancient Egyptians started making bread. The Egyptians discovered how to use yeast. They quickly realised by saving a small piece of fermented dough from an earlier batch all they had to do was mix it into the new dough. Stone Age farmers baked flat bread, then in the Bronze Age they discovered by putting a pot over the bread they could cook in what was a primitive oven. During the Middle Ages the difference between what was bread and what was cake was not very clear. Size may have played a role. "Cake' could be translated into Latin as "panis biscotus", which means little cake or pie. By the 17th century things had changed. You would recognise many of the ingredients used at this time can also be found in modern cakes; for example, eggs, milk, chocolate, sugar, vanilla and treacle. By the end of the century you could also find cake tins.

The technology of the 19th century provided the greatest breakthrough. Chemical raising agents, such as, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder replaced yeast in cakes. A ready supply of white flour and the development of an oven with reliable temperature control also made for a much simpler cake-making experience.

What we would recognise as pastry today did not appear until the 16th century. Early Crusaders returned to Europe with sugar cane and puff pastry which caused cooks to try-out these new products. No longer was pastry just a way of enclosing and protecting food so it would not be burnt while cooking.

Today's patisserie' can cover both sweet and savoury dishes. most of which are baked in an a relatively hot oven, and then they may be served either hot or cold.