diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/base.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/base.py
index 95e510b9..27eca32a 100644
--- a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/base.py
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/base.py
@@ -1,7 +1,11 @@
-from apache_beam.pipeline import PipelineOptions
-from traitlets import Bool
+from typing import List
+
+from apache_beam.pipeline import Pipeline, PipelineOptions
+from traitlets import HasTraits, TraitError
 from traitlets.config import LoggingConfigurable
 
+from .execution_metadata import ExecutionMetadata
+
 
 class Bakery(LoggingConfigurable):
     """
@@ -12,16 +16,6 @@ class Bakery(LoggingConfigurable):
     and the Bakery takes care of the rest.
     """
 
-    blocking = Bool(
-        False,
-        config=False,
-        help="""
-        Set to True if this Bakery will default block calls to pipeline.run()
-
-        Not configurable, should be overriden only by subclasses.
-        """,
-    )
-
     def get_pipeline_options(
         self, job_name: str, container_image: str, extra_options: dict
     ) -> PipelineOptions:
@@ -35,3 +29,44 @@ def get_pipeline_options(
 
         """
         raise NotImplementedError("Override get_pipeline_options in subclass")
+
+    def bake(self, pipeline: Pipeline, meta: ExecutionMetadata) -> None:
+        """
+        Executes the given pipeline using the provided for logs as appropriate.
+
+        pipeline (Pipeline): The pipeline object to be executed.
+        meta (ExecutionMetadata): An instance of BakeMetadata containing metadata about the bake process.
+        """
+        result = pipeline.run()
+        job_id = result.job_id()
+        self.log.info(
+            f"Submitted job {meta.job_id} for recipe {meta.recipe_name}",
+            extra=meta.to_dict() | {"job_id": job_id, "status": "submitted"},
+        )
+
+    @classmethod
+    def validate_bake_command(cls, bake_command: HasTraits) -> List[TraitError]:
+        """
+        Validates the given bake_command and collects any validation errors.
+
+        This method checks the bake_command against a set of predefined validation
+        rules specific to the implementing class. Each rule violation results in
+        a TraitError that describes the nature of the violation. If no violations
+        are found, an empty list is returned.
+
+        Parameters:
+        - bake_command (Bake): The Bake command instance to be validated. It should
+        contain all the necessary information and parameters that the validation
+        rules will check against.
+
+        Returns:
+        List[TraitError]: A list of TraitError objects, each representing a specific
+        validation failure. If the bake_command passes all validations, the list will
+        be empty.
+
+        Note:
+        This method is designed to collect and return all validation errors rather than
+        stopping at the first error encountered. This allows for a comprehensive
+        overview of all issues within the bake_command at once.
+        """
+        return []
diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/execution_metadata.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/execution_metadata.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0a59d36f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/execution_metadata.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+from dataclasses import asdict, dataclass
+
+
+@dataclass
+class ExecutionMetadata:
+    """
+    Holds metadata for an execution instance, including recipe and job names.
+
+    Attributes:
+        recipe_name (str): Name of the recipe being executed.
+        job_name (str): Unique name for the job execution.
+    """
+
+    recipe_name: str
+    job_name: str
+
+    def to_dict(self) -> dict:
+        return asdict(self)
diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/flink.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/flink.py
index 850bfa15..d695f3ae 100644
--- a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/flink.py
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/flink.py
@@ -9,12 +9,14 @@
 import subprocess
 import tempfile
 import time
+from typing import List
 
 import escapism
-from apache_beam.pipeline import PipelineOptions
-from traitlets import Bool, Dict, Integer, Unicode
+from apache_beam.pipeline import Pipeline, PipelineOptions
+from traitlets import Bool, Dict, HasTraits, Integer, TraitError, Unicode
 
 from .base import Bakery
+from .execution_metadata import ExecutionMetadata
 
 
 # Copied from https://github.com/jupyterhub/kubespawner/blob/7d6d82c2be469dd76f770d6f6ed0d1dade6b24a7/kubespawner/utils.py#L8
@@ -52,10 +54,6 @@ class FlinkOperatorBakery(Bakery):
     installed
     """
 
-    # Not actually, but we don't have a job_id to return.
-    # that looks like just a dataflow concept, we'll have to refactor
-    blocking = True
-
     flink_version = Unicode(
         "1.16",
         config=True,
@@ -373,3 +371,29 @@ def get_pipeline_options(
             **extra_options,
         )
         return PipelineOptions(**opts)
+
+    def bake(self, pipeline: Pipeline, meta: ExecutionMetadata) -> None:
+        """
+        Executes the given pipeline using the provided for logs as appropriate.
+
+        pipeline (Pipeline): The pipeline object to be executed.
+        meta (ExecutionMetadata): An instance of BakeMetadata containing metadata about the bake process.
+        """
+        self.log.info(
+            f"Running flink job for recipe {meta.recipe_name}\n",
+            extra=meta.to_dict() | {"status": "running"},
+        )
+        pipeline.run()
+
+    @classmethod
+    def validate_bake_command(cls, bake_command: HasTraits) -> List[TraitError]:
+        errors = []
+        if not bake_command._trait_values["container_image"]:
+            errors.append(
+                TraitError(
+                    "'container_image' is required when using the 'FlinkOperatorBakery' "
+                    "for the version of python and apache-beam you are targeting. "
+                    "See the sdk images available: https://hub.docker.com/layers/apache/"
+                )
+            )
+        return errors
diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/local.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/local.py
index 55ffeeb0..762e6d74 100644
--- a/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/local.py
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/bakery/local.py
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@
 Bakery for baking pangeo-forge recipes in Direct Runner
 """
 
-from apache_beam.pipeline import PipelineOptions
+from apache_beam.pipeline import Pipeline, PipelineOptions
 from traitlets import Integer
 
 from .base import Bakery
+from .execution_metadata import ExecutionMetadata
 
 
 class LocalDirectBakery(Bakery):
@@ -15,9 +16,6 @@ class LocalDirectBakery(Bakery):
     Uses the Apache Beam DirectRunner
     """
 
-    # DirectRunner blocks the pipeline.run() call until run is completed
-    blocking = True
-
     num_workers = Integer(
         0,
         config=True,
@@ -47,3 +45,16 @@ def get_pipeline_options(
             pickle_library="cloudpickle",
             **extra_options,
         )
+
+    def bake(self, pipeline: Pipeline, meta: ExecutionMetadata) -> None:
+        """
+        Executes the given pipeline using the provided for logs as appropriate.
+
+        pipeline (Pipeline): The pipeline object to be executed.
+        meta (ExecutionMetadata): An instance of BakeMetadata containing metadata about the bake process.
+        """
+        self.log.info(
+            f"Running local job for recipe {meta.recipe_name}\n",
+            extra=meta.to_dict() | {"status": "running"},
+        )
+        pipeline.run()
diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py
index c2024d3b..8ed8900e 100644
--- a/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
 
 import escapism
 from apache_beam import Pipeline, PTransform
-from traitlets import Bool, Type, Unicode, validate
+from traitlets import Bool, TraitError, Type, Unicode, validate
 
 from .. import Feedstock
 from ..bakery.base import Bakery
-from ..bakery.flink import FlinkOperatorBakery
+from ..bakery.execution_metadata import ExecutionMetadata
 from ..bakery.local import LocalDirectBakery
 from ..plugin import get_injections, get_injectionspecs_from_entrypoints
 from ..storage import InputCacheStorage, TargetStorage
@@ -84,24 +84,6 @@ class Bake(BaseCommand):
         """,
     )
 
-    @validate("job_name")
-    def _validate_job_name(self, proposal):
-        """
-        Validate that job_name conforms to ^[a-z][-_0-9a-z]{0,62}$ regex.
-
-        That's what is valid in dataflow job names, so let's keep everyone
-        in that range.
-
-        Dataflow job names adhere to the following GCP cloud labels requirements:
-        https://cloud.google.com/resource-manager/docs/creating-managing-labels#requirements
-        """
-        validating_regex = r"^[a-z][-_0-9a-z]{0,62}$"
-        if not re.match(validating_regex, proposal.value):
-            raise ValueError(
-                f"job_name must match the regex {validating_regex}, instead found {proposal.value}"
-            )
-        return proposal.value
-
     container_image = Unicode(
         "",
         config=True,
@@ -121,16 +103,49 @@ def _validate_job_name(self, proposal):
         """,
     )
 
-    @validate("container_image")
-    def _validate_container_image(self, proposal):
-        if self.bakery_class == FlinkOperatorBakery and not proposal.value:
-            raise ValueError(
-                "'container_name' is required when using the 'FlinkOperatorBakery' "
-                "for the version of python and apache-beam you are targeting. "
-                "See the sdk images available: https://hub.docker.com/layers/apache/"
+    @validate("job_name")
+    def _validate_job_name(self, proposal):
+        """
+        Validate that job_name conforms to ^[a-z][-_0-9a-z]{0,62}$ regex.
+
+        That's what is valid in dataflow job names, so let's keep everyone
+        in that range.
+
+        Dataflow job names adhere to the following GCP cloud labels requirements:
+        https://cloud.google.com/resource-manager/docs/creating-managing-labels#requirements
+        """
+        validating_regex = r"^[a-z][-_0-9a-z]{0,62}$"
+        if not re.match(validating_regex, proposal.value):
+            raise TraitError(
+                f"job_name must match the regex {validating_regex}, instead found {proposal.value}"
             )
         return proposal.value
 
+    def bakery_impl_validation(self):
+        """
+        Validates the 'bakery_class' trait using class-specific validation logic.
+
+        It leverages the class-specific 'validate_bake_command' method to perform
+        validation checks. If any validation errors are found, they are aggregated and
+        raised as a single exception. If there is only one error, it is raised directly.
+
+        Raises:
+        - TraitError: If multiple validation errors are encountered, a single TraitError
+        is raised containing a summary of all error messages.
+
+        Note: Traitlets has no convenient way to set initialization hooks (???) so we have
+        to run this manually.
+        """
+        klass = self.bakery_class
+        if errors := klass.validate_bake_command(self):
+            if len(errors) == 1:
+                raise errors[0]
+            error_messages = "\n".join([str(error) for error in errors])
+            raise TraitError(
+                f"Multiple errors encountered during {klass.__name__} validation of the {type(self).__name__} command:\n{error_messages}"
+            )
+        return klass
+
     def autogenerate_job_name(self):
         """
         Autogenerate a readable job_name
@@ -172,6 +187,9 @@ def start(self):
         """
         Start the baking process
         """
+        # Validate bakery-specific requirements of this class. Yes, we have to do it here.
+        self.bakery_impl_validation()
+
         if not "pangeo-forge-recipes" in [d.metadata["Name"] for d in distributions()]:
             raise ValueError(
                 "To use the `bake` command, `pangeo-forge-recipes` must be installed."
@@ -274,23 +292,8 @@ def start(self):
                 if isinstance(recipe, PTransform):
                     pipeline | recipe
 
-                # Some bakeries are blocking - if Beam is configured to use them, calling
-                # pipeline.run() blocks. Some are not. We handle that here, and provide
-                # appropriate feedback to the user too.
-                extra = {
-                    "recipe": name,
-                    "job_name": (per_recipe_unique_job_name or self.job_name),
-                }
-                if bakery.blocking:
-                    self.log.info(
-                        f"Running job for recipe {name}\n",
-                        extra=extra | {"status": "running"},
-                    )
-                    pipeline.run()
-                else:
-                    result = pipeline.run()
-                    job_id = result.job_id()
-                    self.log.info(
-                        f"Submitted job {job_id} for recipe {name}",
-                        extra=extra | {"job_id": job_id, "status": "submitted"},
-                    )
+                metadata = ExecutionMetadata(
+                    recipe_name=name,
+                    job_name=(per_recipe_unique_job_name or self.job_name),
+                )
+                bakery.bake(pipeline, metadata)
diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/base.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/base.py
index b235d7fb..c7f617d0 100644
--- a/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/base.py
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/base.py
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ def initialize(self, argv=None):
         # Calling logging.getLogger gives us the *root* logger, which we
         # then futz with. Ideally, we'll call getLogger(__name__) which
         # will give us a scoped logger. Unfortunately, apache_beam doesn't
-        # do this correctly and fucks with the root logger, and so must we
+        # do this correctly and modifies the root logger, and so must we
         # if we want to be able to control all stdout from our CLI (to be JSON or
         # otherwise). FIXME: No extra comes out here, just message
         self.log = logging.getLogger()
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ def initialize(self, argv=None):
         self.log.handlers = []
         self.log.addHandler(logHandler)
         self.log.setLevel(self.log_level)
-        # Don't propagate these to the root logger - Apache Beam fucks with the root logger,
+        # Don't propagate these to the root logger - Apache Beam modifies the root logger,
         # and we don't want duplicates
         self.log.propagate = False
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_bake.py b/tests/unit/test_bake.py
index 429d2974..21a8dbbf 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_bake.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_bake.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import pytest
 import xarray as xr
 from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
+from traitlets import TraitError
 
 from pangeo_forge_runner.commands.bake import Bake
 
@@ -72,12 +73,13 @@ def test_job_name_validation(job_name, raises):
     bake = Bake()
     if raises:
         with pytest.raises(
-            ValueError,
+            TraitError,
             match=re.escape(
                 f"job_name must match the regex ^[a-z][-_0-9a-z]{{0,62}}$, instead found {job_name}"
             ),
         ):
             bake.job_name = job_name
+            bake.bakery_impl_validation()
     else:
         bake.job_name = job_name
         assert bake.job_name == job_name
@@ -90,15 +92,16 @@ def test_job_name_validation(job_name, raises):
         ["apache/beam_python3.10_sdk:2.51.0", False],
     ),
 )
-def test_container_name_validation(container_image, raises):
+def test_container_image_validation(container_image, raises):
     bake = Bake()
     if raises:
         with pytest.raises(
-            ValueError,
-            match=r"^'container_name' is required.*",
+            TraitError,
+            match=r"^'container_image' is required.*",
         ):
             bake.bakery_class = "pangeo_forge_runner.bakery.flink.FlinkOperatorBakery"
             bake.container_image = container_image
+            bake.bakery_impl_validation()
     else:
         bake.bakery_class = "pangeo_forge_runner.bakery.flink.FlinkOperatorBakery"
         bake.container_image = container_image