For the past six years, senior Test Kitchen editor Jesse Szewyczk has been trying to get a karpatka recipe published. Even though he’d never made one in its entirety before. But he knew BA’s Bake Club was the perfect place to showcase what he calls the drag queen of Polish desserts.

“I've made every component before,” Jesse tells his co-host Shilpa Uskokovic. “I just haven't arranged the puzzle pieces in this fashion.”

“We hope that that's what people in Bake Club take away,” adds Shilpa. “That by having these building blocks, you can make all these things, even if they're the first time you're making them.”

Jesse’s version has an American twist (a no-bake cheesecake filling) and a nod to his Polish roots (the plum compote).

Listeners also weighed in with questions about and photos of their sky-high desserts and we awarded our Baker of the Month. We also had a visit from a beloved star baker in The Great British Baking Show (a.k.a. Bake-Off for those in the UK). Season nine finalist Ruby Bhogal stopped by the podcast to talk about her new book Around The World in 80 Cakes. And yes, there is a karpatka in it!

Find Ruby Bhogal @rubybhogal and on Substack.

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There were anxious whispers behind the scenes ahead of the Bake Club July recipe reveal. Concerns floated around that it might have been a bit too esoteric. Sweet corn in a cake? And not just any cake but a delightfully bouncy butter mochi made with sweet rice flour. Senior Test Kitchen editors Shilpa Uskokovic and Jesse Szweczyk were bracing for the reactions in the comments section when Shilpa’s Sweet Corn Butter Mochi With Coconut Crunch recipe finally dropped.

“We were not slightly worried. I was like, "This is gonna flop." This is it for us,” recalls Jesse on the BA Bake Club Podcast. But, the Bake Club community once again proved themselves to be the confident, curious bakers we know and love. The cake is a hit!

“I hope you guys know how much it means to us,” says Shilpa. “I'm very touched every month when you guys bake our recipes, and we see you in the Substack chat and you post these pictures. So, this is very heartwarming for me.”

The love fest continues as we award Baker of the Month to one bake clubber who dared to pair his Sweet Corn Butter Mochi with dinner, not dessert. 

Plus, we (virtually) jetted off to Hawaii to catch up with Katherine Yang, who ran the incredibly successful by-order cake bakery, Gigi Blue, and is currently executive pastry chef at Mille Fête in Honolulu’s Chinatown. To learn about the dessert scene in Hawaii and pick up a few tips for the perfect butter mochi cake, give the episode a listen. 

You can find Katherine Yang on social media at GigiBlueNYC and millefete.

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This month, the Bake Club welcomes its first ever guest recipe developer, Test Kitchen Editor Rebecca Firkser, to discuss her recipe for the oh-so-cute Tiny Tomato Galettes. (For the uninitiated, explains Rebecca, a galette is just “a freeform open-faced pie” filled with… well, whatever you want.) 

On the latest episode of BA Bake Club, Jesse, Shilpa, and Rebecca take your questions, walking through the difference between a pie and a galette, how to avoid a soggy bottom, and why mayonnaise is that girl – at least when it comes to this recipe. Plus, they bestow the honor of Baker of the Month on one talented Bake Clubber – and try to stump each other with ingredients. How will soy milk and spam galette? You’ll have to listen to find out. We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected].

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This month Bake Club is embracing every part of the lemon as co-host Jesse Szewczyk brings us his recipe for Whole Lemon Bars.

“These lemon bars did not start as lemon bars,” confesses Jesse to co-host Shilpa Uskokovic. “They went through a journey. First, they were marshmallows… and then they were marshmallow cookies, and then, something happened, they turned into lemon bars.”

On the latest episode of BA Bake Club, Jesse and Shilpa take your questions and bestow the honor of Baker of the Month on one talented Bake Clubber.

Make sure you join our BA Bake Club Substack for access to a bonus recipe for the Marshmallow That Became a Lemon Bar.

Later in the episode, Bake Clubs unite as visionary pastry chef and founder of Milk Bar (as well as her own bake club) Christina Tosi joins Jesse and Shilpa to talk about her love of baking and where she finds inspiration.

“We need more forces of good and positivity and innovation and creativity. That's why I started Bake Club, and I love that you all have BA Bake Club in the same way.” says Tosi.

You can find Christina Tosi online at milkbarstore.com, @christinatosi on socials or on her website bakeclub.com.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected].

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The unofficial birthday cake of the Test Kitchen comes to Bake Club this month as Shilpa Uskokovic shares her recipe for Strawberry Roll Cake. 

“I just love this cake,” explains Shilpa to co-host Jesse Szewczyk. “It has everything you could want! Tender cake, really nice cream…lots of fresh fruits. It's perfect.” 

Shilpa and Jesse answer your questions and also award the inaugural Baker of the Month to one lucky listener whose Strawberry Roll Cake stood out on BA Bake Club Substack page. 

And in our segment Baker You Should Know, celebrated author and food stylist Donna Hay stops by to talk about her latest book Sunshine Lemons and Seasalt. Donna introduces us to her favourite cooking utensil, the spoonula. 

You can find Donna Hay’s work on her website and you can watch her series Coastal Celebrations on Disney+. 

We’d love to hear from you - send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected].

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This month, Bon Appétit’s Bake Club is putting a spin on a classic. Listen in as Jesse Szewczyk breaks down his popular recipe for Chocolate Guinness Cake.

“The cake came to me rather easily. I had a vision. I got lucky,” Jesse explains to co-host Shilpa Uskokovic. But the challenge came when it was time to develop the frosting. “I feel like everyone in the Test Kitchen had an opinion on what it should be…I definitely tried at least 10 different frostings.”

Ultimately, Jesse landed on a brown butter frosting as the perfect topper, not just for taste but also because it matched the visual of an expertly poured Guinness, with its creamy head. “It’s reinforced with just a tad of Guinness, two tablespoons,” says Jesse. “I found it important to have Guinness in both places.”

Jesse and Shilpa also dive deep into the mailbag and answer questions about the cake and troubleshoot issues listeners encountered.

Plus, baker and psychologist Helen Goh stops by in our “Baker You Should Know” segment. Helen confesses that she has been living a double life for years and explains how she juggled working with the acclaimed Yotam Ottolenghi on developing sweet treats while seeing patients in her psychology practice. Her latest book, Baking & the Meaning of Life, bridges the gap between the two worlds.

As always, we’d love to hear from you! To send your questions to Bon Appétit Bake Club, subscribe to us on Substack, or send us a voice memo to [email protected].

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This month, Bake Club takes inspiration from a popular chain restaurant for our own take on a beautiful, fluffy and cheesy biscuit that is transformed with the help of Old Bay seasoning. Hosts Shilpa Uskokovic and Jesse Szewczyk make the case for why biscuits are a must for any occasion. “Anything bread can do…a biscuit can do better,” says Shilpa. 

Jesse and Shilpa tackle listener questions and baker and writer Cheryl Day, a biscuit guru who made them everyday for 22 years in her bakery, stops by the clubhouse. Cheryl’s advice for the best biscuit is simple. “I would say: practice, practice, practice … then, take notes.”

We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected].

Links:
Garlic Bread Biscuits Recipe
An Ode to Old Bay, the Great American Condiment from The New Yorker
Old Bay Breakfast Potatoes
Peel ’n’ Eat Old Bay and Garlic Shrimp
Old Bay Chips With Lemon Mayo
Glazed Fried Chicken with Old Bay and Cayenne
Baltimore-Style Crab Cakes

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January is bleak, but this month’s Bake Club recipe is bound to put a smile on your face! Hosts Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic dive into the world of bagels. Jesse talks us through the tips and tricks of how to make the perfect bagel from the comfort of your own kitchen. “Bagels are like this blank canvas,” says Jesse, “Where the yeast and the wheat are the flavor…and the toppings, obviously.”

Plus, Melissa Weller from Bub’s Bakery in New York City drops by the clubhouse. Melissa is a James Beard nominee and author of two beautiful books, A Good Bake and Very Good Bread. She discusses her love of bagels and how her past life as a chemical engineer helped her hone her craft as a recipe developer. Melissa also tackles a tricky listener question on how to make gluten-free bagels.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected]

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A special bonus episode this week from our friends at The Chef’s Cut podcast. Every Tuesday Top Chef alums Adrienne Cheatham and Joe Flamm share behind-the-scenes chef insights and candid conversations with people in the food industry. Recently, they caught up with Editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit and Epicurious, Jamila Robinson. They discuss what it takes for a chef to get noticed by Bon Appétit, how much testing goes into each recipe on our site and the countless hours that go into working on helping to pick the 50 Best Restaurants for North America.

BA Bake Club will be back on February 3 as we tackle this month’s recipe for bagels. 

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This month on BA Bake Club, hosts Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic break out their whisks and create a picture perfect pavlova. It has all the top textures of a showstopping bake: It’s crunchy, it’s chewy, it’s decadent and it’s boozy. Inspired by Shilpa’s childhood favorite, Black Forest gâteau, we dive into the inbox and dig into listener questions. And Shilpa preaches about the virtue of a cracked meringue. “My point is if it cracks, it's okay,” says Shilpa. “That's really what the whipped cream and the toppings are for sure. Just patch it back together.” Watch Shilpa make her fool-proof pavlova on Instagram. 

2025 James Beard award-winning cookbook author Nicola Lamb also stops by to help weigh in on what you can do with leftover egg yolks and comes up with some creative suggestions! You can find Nicola on Instagram and her Substack called Kitchen Projects. 

Send your questions to BA Bake Club! Find us on Substack or send us a voice memo to [email protected]. 

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