I love to cook, but I hate baking.
I think it’s because, at least for me, they have different philosophies behind them. Baking is far more exacting and precise than cooking is. It also has a far lower margin for error.
To me, cooking sometimes feels like the art of throwing stuff together and having it come out inexplicably delicious, despite the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing half the time. Some of my best recipes were created because I had literally nothing else in the kitchen at the time. I managed to make this great tomato soup that’s basically nothing but tomatoes, salt, and lemon juice.
You can to do that in baking. In some baking recipes, if you’re so much as a teaspoon off for things like salt, your food will end up inedible in several disgusting ways. Ever under-salt a steak? No big deal, just put some more on. but try that with cookies? Well, now your cookies are gray, rock-hard, and an abomination that needs to be put out of its misery. All because you forgot a little pinch of salt.
Maybe the real reason girls bake more than guys these days is just because girls are a lot smarter. Baking is too difficult for men.
Plus, baking seems to have fewer opportunities to use meat in its recipes. Steak and kidney pie and that sort of thing doesn’t count because you have to cook the steaks first for it to taste any good.