Thanks to both of you for your replies.

I was not sure if the baking guilds were still around in the 18th
century or not.

I am specifically trying to figure out the origin of the Southern (as in
American South) cookies called "tea cakes." They are likely the "little
cakes" that early bakers created by dropping small amounts of cake
batter in the pan to test the temperature of their ovens.

I found a recipe for tea cakes in The Practice of Cookery by Mrs
Dalgairns, first published in 1829 in Scotland. The recipe is
essentially the same as my grandmother's recipe. So, I am working on
the assumption that they are probably goodies out of 18th century
Scotland, a time when their was a great deal of immigration of Scots to
the South.

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