I’ve been working on parameters for ‘bread’ and ‘cake.’ Here’s what I have so far:
Bread:
Bread is made from dough. There are few enough exceptions that they have a specific name: batter bread. However, many batter breads still produce what I would call a very wet dough.
Bread uses yeast or a yeast analog to rise. There are few enough exceptions that they have a specific name: unleavened bread.
Bread is savory. There are few enough exceptions that sweet breads are usually named that way, as with Hawaiian Sweet Bread.
Bread is savory (2). It can feature as a primary or secondary ingredient in any savory dish.
Bread uses relatively few ingredients beyond water, yeast, salt, and flour. There are hundreds of bread varieties that differ only in the ratios and treatment of those four ingredients. More ingredients are often reflected in the name of the bread: egg bread, cheese bread, olive bread. The implication is that ‘bread’ is the baseline product and anything beyond is additive by nature.
Bread is made from glutenous flour. There are many exceptions here but I think they still qualify as exceptions.
Bread is resiliant. Bread must be sliced or torn. It cannot reasonably be eaten with a fork. I can’t think of any exceptions here.
Bread is resiliant (2). Bread can serve as a vehicle for other foods, either as toppings or fillings, without losing structural integrity.
Cake:
Cake is made from batter. I don’t know of any exceptions.
Because it is made from batter, cake must be poured into a shaped vessel prior to baking.
Cake ingredients are highly variable, and a cake’s name often doesn’t reflect its additional ingredients but rather its function (wedding, coffee), its origin or the origin of its ingredients (Black Forest), its color (devil’s food, yellow, white), or its shape/construction (layer, bundt, sheet).
Cake is sweet. The number of exceptions you allow is going to depend on your overall definition of ‘cake.’
Cake is sweet (2). It is almost always eaten as a dessert. Cake toppings are also sweet.
Cake is soft. Almost all cake can be eaten with a fork.