7 delicious bakery treats boomers swear tasted better in the good old days

My mother-in-law is convinced that nothing from a bakery tastes as good as it used to.

Every time we bring her pastries or cakes, she'll say "it's nice, but it's not the same as what we had growing up."

At first, I thought it was just nostalgia talking. Those rose-tinted memories of childhood making everything seem better in retrospect.

But the more I talk to Boomers about this, the more I realize they might actually be onto something.

Many of them can describe in detail what bakery items used to taste like. The texture. The richness. The way certain things were made.

And they all agree that something fundamental has changed. That modern versions just don't measure up to what they remember.

Here are the bakery treats Boomers insist tasted better in the good old days.

1. Proper bread

This is the big one that Boomers are most passionate about.

My father-in-law talks about bread from his childhood bakery like other people talk about fine wine. The crust that crackled when you broke it. The dense, flavorful interior. The way it stayed fresh for days.

He says modern bread, even from good bakeries, doesn't compare. It's too fluffy. Too uniform. Too bland.

And he might be right. The way bread was made has fundamentally changed.

Traditional bakeries used longer fermentation times, often with natural starters. They didn't add all the dough conditioners and improvers that modern bakeries use for consistency and shelf life.

My mother-in-law remembers getting a fresh loaf every morning. It had substance. You could make a meal out of bread and butter because the bread itself had so much flavor.

Now bread is often made quickly using commercial yeast and additives to speed up the process. It rises faster, bakes quicker, and has a longer shelf life.

But something is lost in that efficiency. The depth of flavor. The satisfying texture. The soul of real bread.

2. Custard-filled donuts

I've heard multiple Boomers wax poetic about the custard donuts of their youth.

Not the ones filled with artificial cream or pudding that most donut shops sell now. Real custard made with eggs, milk, and vanilla.

My neighbor describes these donuts like a religious experience. The custard was thick and rich, not sweet and chemical-tasting. The donut itself was cake-like, not bready. And there was an actual dusting of powdered sugar, not that weird coating modern donuts have.

She says the custard would ooze out when you bit into it, and you could taste real vanilla and eggs. It was decadent.

Modern versions use shelf-stable cream fillings that can sit in a display case for days. They're sweet, but they don't have that rich, eggy, real-custard taste.

I've tried making proper custard donuts at home following old recipes. The difference is striking. I can see what they mean about the lost quality.

3. Butterfly cakes

For those not familiar, butterfly cakes are small sponge cakes cut in half, filled with cream and jam, then the tops are placed back on to look like butterfly wings.

My mother-in-law says the ones from her childhood were completely different from what you get now.

The sponge was lighter and more delicate. The cream was actual whipped cream, not stabilized artificial stuff. The jam was real fruit, not corn syrup with flavoring.

She remembers them being so light they'd practically melt in your mouth. But also having genuine flavor from real ingredients.

Modern versions are often denser, sweeter, and use ingredients designed for longer shelf life rather than taste.

She tried to recreate them using her mother's old recipe. She said it took her three attempts, but when she got it right, it transported her back to childhood.

That's the power of taste memory, and also evidence that the recipes and ingredients really have changed.

4. Cream horns

These pastries seem to have mostly disappeared, which is telling in itself.

Boomers describe them as flaky, buttery pastry horns filled with real whipped cream, often with a touch of jam at the bottom.

My uncle says the pastry would shatter when you bit into it, releasing this cloud of buttery flakes. The cream was cold and fresh-tasting. The whole thing was a textural and flavor experience.

Modern bakeries rarely make these anymore. And when they do, they often use pre-made puff pastry and stabilized cream that can sit out all day.

The loss of cream horns from most bakeries suggests that many treats requiring fresh cream and immediate consumption couldn't survive in our modern food system that prioritizes shelf life and convenience.

5. Proper iced buns

In the UK, iced buns were a bakery staple. A soft, slightly sweet bread roll with thick, fondant icing on top.

My mother-in-law insists these tasted completely different when she was young.

The bun itself was softer and more enriched, almost brioche-like. The icing was thick and had a distinctive flavor that she can't quite describe but remembers vividly.

Modern iced buns have thinner, more generic-tasting icing. The buns are often ordinary bread rolls with icing rather than the special enriched dough they used to be made with.

She says it's one of those things where the name is the same but the product has been fundamentally changed to make it cheaper and faster to produce.

6. Black Forest gateau

This was the fancy cake of the 70s and 80s. Chocolate sponge, cherries, cream, more chocolate.

Boomers who remember good Black Forest gateau say modern versions are a shadow of what they used to be.

My aunt describes the original version as having layers of rich chocolate cake soaked in kirsch, proper cherries (not the bright red chemical ones), real whipped cream, and dark chocolate shavings.

The whole thing was boozy and decadent and had actual depth of flavor.

Now when you buy Black Forest gateau, it's often chocolate sponge with artificial cherry flavoring, stabilized cream that tastes like nothing, and those horrible bright red cherries that taste like sugar and chemicals.

The alcohol is usually gone entirely, which removes a key flavor component.

It's technically the same cake, but it's been stripped of everything that made it special.

7. Fresh cream cakes

This is an umbrella category, but it represents a fundamental shift in how cakes are made.

Boomers remember when cream cakes actually used fresh cream. Plain, simple, whipped cream made from cream.

My father-in-law talks about going to the bakery and knowing the cream cakes had to be eaten that day. They wouldn't keep. The cream would spoil.

That was part of the appeal. The freshness. The fact that you were eating something that couldn't sit around for days.

Now cream cakes use stabilized fillings. Artificial creams. Butter cream that's mostly shortening. Things designed to survive days in a display case or transport in a delivery van.

They're more convenient. They last longer. But they don't taste like real cream anymore.

The shift from fresh to stabilized represents the loss that Boomers are mourning. Not just in cream cakes, but across many bakery items.

Final thoughts

After listening to Boomers describe these bakery treats, I don't think it's just nostalgia.

The food industry has fundamentally changed how baked goods are made. The pressure to reduce costs, increase shelf life, and maintain consistency across locations has led to different ingredients and methods.

Traditional bakeries used real butter, fresh cream, proper fruit, and time-intensive techniques. They made things fresh daily that had to be eaten quickly.

Modern bakeries, even good ones, often use shelf-stable ingredients and faster methods. Things are designed to last, to survive transport, to look perfect in a display case for days.

The convenience is real. Being able to buy a cake on Monday and eat it on Friday is useful. Having the same pastry taste identical at every location is predictable.

But something has been lost. The Boomers can taste it, even if younger generations who didn't grow up with the old versions don't know what they're missing.

I've started seeking out bakeries that do things the old way. That use real butter and fresh cream. That make bread with long fermentation. That accept their products won't last days.

And I have to admit, the Boomers are right. It does taste better.