The Bon Appétit Bake Club, spearheaded by senior editors Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic, has rapidly emerged as a significant force in the digital culinary landscape, fostering a vibrant community of home bakers since its inception in November 2024. Conceived as a "book club for baking," the initiative transcends traditional recipe sharing by offering a monthly, meticulously tested recipe alongside robust platforms for interaction, learning, and mutual support. This innovative approach addresses a growing global appetite for home baking, a trend amplified by popular culture phenomena such as The Great British Baking Show and a renewed interest in culinary craftsmanship. The club’s growth, evidenced by a membership exceeding 400 individuals within its first six months and a subsequent expansion to Substack for enhanced engagement, underscores its successful model in connecting passionate bakers worldwide.
The Genesis of a Culinary Movement
The Bon Appétit Bake Club was launched in November 2024, recognizing the widespread enthusiasm for baking and the desire for a structured, supportive environment for skill development. Jesse Szewczyk and Shilpa Uskokovic, both seasoned bakers and integral figures in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen, envisioned a space where members could not only follow expert-developed recipes but also delve into the intricate "hows and whys" of baking. Their stated goal: "creating a community of confident, curious bakers who find just as much joy in the process of baking as the final results." This mission reflects a deeper understanding of the modern home baker’s journey, which often involves navigating successes, learning from failures, and seeking camaraderie in a shared passion. The club’s initial phase leveraged existing social media platforms, including a "Closed Friends" group on Instagram, to cultivate an intimate atmosphere before transitioning to more scalable solutions as its popularity surged.
A Chronology of Culinary Exploration: Monthly Bakes and Learnings
Since its launch, the Bon Appétit Bake Club has presented a diverse array of challenges and triumphs, guiding members through a rich tapestry of baking techniques and flavor profiles. Each month’s recipe is not merely a dish to be prepared but a masterclass in specific baking principles, designed to build confidence and expand culinary horizons.
November 2024: Caramel Apple Monkey Bread
The club inaugurated its journey with an autumnal classic, the Caramel Apple Monkey Bread. This project bake, designed for communal enjoyment, emphasized the transformation of simple dough into pull-apart, caramel-drenched pillows. A key learning from this recipe involved the sheer volume of apple cider—nearly half a gallon—required for both the dough and the tangy caramel, highlighting the depth of flavor possible with concentrated ingredients. The choice of a 12-cup or larger Bundt pan was critical, preventing overflow during proofing and ensuring the structural integrity of this impressive bake. This initial recipe set the tone for the club’s commitment to robust flavors and practical advice, showcasing that celebratory bakes could be accessible to home cooks.
December 2024: Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
Transitioning into the holiday season, the club embraced efficiency and elegance with the Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. This "one-bowl" wonder celebrated the versatility of olive oil, not only in imparting a fruity nuance to the chocolate cake itself but also in creating a rich, ganache-like frosting. The recipe showcased how olive oil naturally contributes to a moist, plush crumb that retains its quality for days, an invaluable characteristic for holiday entertaining. The emphasis on Dutch-process cocoa powder, specifically Guittard Cocoa Rouge, introduced members to the impact of quality ingredients on flavor, demonstrating how a bold, concentrated cocoa can elevate a cake from good to extraordinary. This choice underscored the Test Kitchen’s dedication to ingredient education.
January 2025: Incredibly Good Homemade Pizza
Defying the expectation that world-class pizza is solely the domain of professional pizzerias, January’s challenge was Homemade Pizza. From the heart of New York City, the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen demonstrated that an exceptional pie could be achieved at home, often in under four hours, without specialized equipment like stand mixers, baking stones, or dedicated pizza ovens. The recipe’s innovative two-step cooking method—starting on the stovetop and finishing under the broiler—was a revelation, consistently delivering a puffy, charred crust, known as "leoparding" among pizza aficionados. The recommendation of a flexible bowl scraper for managing the initially wet and sticky dough underscored the club’s focus on practical tools for everyday bakers, ensuring a smoother process for even novice pizza makers.
February 2025: Tiramisu Basque Cheesecake
Capitalizing on a viral social media sensation, the Tiramisu Basque Cheesecake offered members a chance to master a dessert known for its dramatic visual appeal and astonishing ease. This recipe bypassed the complexities of traditional cheesecakes, requiring no crust or water bath. Instead, a "hot and fast" baking method yielded a cheesecake of epic contrasts: deeply caramelized on the exterior while remaining quiveringly soft within. The infusion of buttery mascarpone and instant espresso transformed the classic Basque cheesecake into a hybrid delight, merging its rustic charm with the sophisticated flavors of tiramisu. The detailed selection of a specific springform pan with a raised base and ample height further exemplified the club’s commitment to providing precise, actionable advice for optimal results.
March 2025: Pistachio Bundt Cake
March brought a focus on texture and vibrant color with the Pistachio Bundt Cake. This recipe highlighted the efficiency of a blender in creating a fine pistachio flour, ensuring an incredibly tender crumb and a natural, mowed-grass green hue without artificial coloring. The cake’s satisfying heft and sturdy moistness were attributed to the pistachios’ natural fat content, combined with melted butter and oil, all finished with a pearlescent lemon glaze. Addressing a common fear among Bundt cake bakers—stickage during inversion—the club specifically recommended baking spray (not cooking spray) for its superior ability to coat intricate pan designs, empowering members to achieve flawless results and overcome a frequent baking hurdle.
April 2025: Millionaire’s Shortbread
The Millionaire’s Shortbread was introduced as the "ultimate show-off bake," a testament to layered indulgence. This recipe underwent extensive testing—approximately ten rounds—to perfect each component: a tender shortbread base, a chewy caramel layer, and a glossy chocolate topping, all finished with flaky sea salt. A notable technique involved toasting a portion of the flour for the shortbread, imparting a deep, nutty, almost coffee-like flavor. The caramel adopted a hybrid approach, combining caramelized sugar with sweetened condensed milk for a bittersweet flavor and a sliceable texture. The final chocolate layer incorporated butter for a mirror-like shine and a fudgy bite, with a sturdy metal 8×8" pan recommended for achieving the cleanest edges.
May 2025: Coffee Cake Scones & First Live Event
May marked a significant milestone with the Coffee Cake Scones and the club’s first-ever live workshop in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. This recipe evolved from initial attempts that were deemed "too-tender" by internal critics, leading to a crucial discovery: sour cream. The tang of cultured dairy proved essential in achieving scones that were moist yet possessed the desired crumbly texture. With clusters of streusel and a cinnamon sugar swirl, these scones became a celebrated balance of flavors and textures. The live event, held on May 16 in NYC, allowed members to bake alongside Jesse and Shilpa, transforming virtual connections into tangible, shared experiences and further solidifying the community bond, a testament to the club’s evolving engagement strategy.
June 2025: Hummingbird Cake
Celebrating six months of the Bake Club, June featured the imposing Hummingbird Cake, an icon from the American South. This recipe, described as the club’s "most involved project yet," served as a celebratory challenge for the growing community, which by this point had surpassed 400 members. The historical context of the Hummingbird Cake, linking it to a Caribbean island and a decades-old magazine, added cultural depth. As a traditional layer cake, it guided members through multiple steps—baking, cutting, filling, frosting, and assembling—demystifying complex construction. The recommendation of a sturdy metal cake turntable highlighted practical tools for achieving professional-looking results with greater ease and precision.
July 2025: No-Knead Cheddar Jalapeño Bread
Following the complexity of the layer cake, July pivoted to savory baking with the No-Knead Cheddar Jalapeño Bread. This recipe was presented as an accessible introduction to homemade bread, dispelling intimidation with its reliance on instant yeast (eliminating fuss with active dry yeast or sourdough starters) and a no-knead method requiring only a few quick folds. The result was a crusty, bakery-worthy boule studded with peak-summer jalapeños and cheddar cheese, demonstrating that impressive bread could be achieved with minimal effort and equipment, primarily a heavy Dutch oven. This bake showcased the club’s versatility in offering both sweet and savory challenges.
August 2025: Peach-Blueberry Crumb Pie
Embracing summer’s bounty, August’s bake was the Peach-Blueberry Crumb Pie. This recipe challenged the "no-bake" summer trend by advocating for the unparalleled joy of baking with fresh stone fruit. It offered powerful learning moments, including mastering a buttery, never-fail pie crust, selecting optimal fruit, and understanding the critical importance of precooking high-moisture fillings to prevent a gummy crust. The subtle scent of cardamom and a brown sugar streusel elevated the classic fruit pie. The club also highlighted practical considerations, such as the variability of pie pan sizes, recommending a specific capacious model from USA Pan for consistent results. This month also saw the club’s expansion to Substack for enhanced community interaction, a move indicative of its burgeoning popularity and need for a more dedicated platform.
September 2025: Banana Pudding Paris-Brest
September presented the club’s "showiest to date," the Banana Pudding Paris-Brest. This ambitious French pastry, a giant wreath of pâte à choux, pushed members to master a foundational dough adaptable to éclairs, cream puffs, and churros. The recipe reimagined the traditional praline mousseline filling