​

Welcome to BA Bake Club. We are a community of curious baking enthusiasts. Jesse Szewczyk, Test Kitchen senior editor, and Shilpa Usokovic, Test Kitchen senior editor, share a must make recipe each month and explain why it works. Come bake with us, ask questions, share photos, listen to our podcast and more. This one-bowl olive oil chocolate cake proves that oil can be better than butter in baking. It produces a rich, moist crumb and keeps the cake moist for several days. It also adds floral complexity and grassy, peppery flavors that complement both cocoa and melted dark chocolate. For the best flavor, use extra-virgin oil when baking. It doesn’t have to be expensive. The batter is mixed with a whisk – no mixer or creaming required. A generous swoosh (with olive oil) of ganache frosting gives the cake a glossy, soft texture. This cake is topped with flaky salt and can be enjoyed as a snack, dessert for a dinner party, or even made ahead to enjoy throughout the week. Can I use regular cocoa instead? This recipe was designed using Dutch-process cocoa, which has less acidity than natural cacao. If you swap one for the other, the baking soda will react differently and result in a denser cake. The Bon Appetit Test Kitchen’s preferred Dutch-process cocoa powder is Guittard Cocoa Rouge.GuittardGuittard Rouge Unsweetened Dutch-Process Cocoa Powder$19 $18 (5% off) AmazonThis is a lot of frosting; do I have to use it all?The recipe makes a generous amount of ganache for creating dramatic swoops, but a thin layer is also fine. The extra frosting can be frozen for up to three months (thaw over night and whisk again to emulsify). My frosting did not set or looked oily or separate–did I make a mistake? Once combined, the frosting will become a glossy, cohesive frosting. If your frosting isn’t ready after 20 minutes, continue to chill and stir. It may take a little longer for the frosting to reach a soft, spreadable, fudge like consistency if your kitchen is warm. This cake and frosting keeps extremely well and the flavor intensifies over time. For best results, bake it a day ahead and store it under a dome at room temperature.

​

Maryam Ahmed, a Napa-based entrepreneur, is the CEO of Maryam + Company. A certified B Corporation, Maryam + Company translates vision and strategy into experience, often by focusing on food, wine and place. She explains why local hospitality businesses need to champion their regional wines. In another region, I had been taken to the “fanciest” restaurant in town, but they didn’t serve wines from local producers. Wine producers, tourism boards and hospitality operators share responsibility for the success of a region. There’s a disconnect between the U.S. and Europe. Why aren’t these businesses representing the best of their own home turf? One answer lies in the structure of wine industry. The market is dominated by large distributors, who are built for scale and not for specificity. They offer one-stop ordering, reliable inventory, and wines with built-in name recognition or special pricing-tools that make a buyer’s job easier and less risky but ultimately remove a sense of place from a local establishment.Smaller local producers often operate in spite of that infrastructure, but they aren’t exempt from the work of participating in it. Small production, low visibility, and self-distribution can all play a part. Without intentional efforts to build demand and relationships their wines can be just as absent from local list. So, revenue wins over region. Convenience is more important than community. The beverage industry is a complex, multi-layered system that moves according to demand. This puts the power in the drinker’s hands. What you order, how much you spend, and the questions you ask all influence what appears on a menu. Wine lovers and wine professionals alike can benefit from this list. You may choose based upon familiarity or convenience, not on curiosity or location. But when those patterns become the norm, they reinforce a structure that leaves local winemakers-especially small, independent, or BIPOC businesses on the sidelines in their own backyard.That’s a structural failure. When restaurants and hotels ignore local wine, the money leaves the community. It bypasses the vineyard team, the cellar crew, and the small business owner who is trying to pay fair wage. It weakens regional economies and bypasses local tax bases. Reinvesting in local businesses, at a time when federal assistance is becoming increasingly unreliable, and states are left to their own devices, is not a noble act. It’s a shared obligation. Without this reinvestment the places that we love to visit may lose the very character that attracts people. I’m not suggesting every wine list must be exclusively local. Diversity is important, and thoughtful curation makes for good hospitality. When you’re in a wine-producing region and there isn’t a single local glass of wine available, it’s worth questioning. Where will you choose to eat or stay? Smaller, independently-owned businesses are often more flexible in sourcing locally. Your dollars will be more likely to circulate throughout a regional supply chain, rather than strengthening national ones. What do you expect from the places that you visit? Mission statements are now as common as menus. If a business makes a claim about its commitment to local farmers and producers, this value should be reflected in the glass.

​

Step 1Combine 1 lb. of 1 lb., 2 finely grated garlic cloves. Cut into bite-sized pieces skinless and boneless chicken breasts. 1 Tbsp. Cornstarch and 1/2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1/4 teaspoon. Morton kosher in a medium-sized bowl; season with freshly grated pepper. Toss the chicken until it is coated. (Your hands are best for this). Step 2Mix together 3 Tbsp. gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste), 1 Tbsp. mirin, 1 Tbsp. 1 Tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar soy sauce, 1 Tbsp. In a small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp. Set aside the sauce. Step 3Cut 5 scallions into 1 1/2″ pieces. Set aside the white and pale-green pieces. Set aside dark green pieces separately. Step 4Heat 1 tbsp. In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil until it shimmers. Reduce heat to medium high and add 12 oz. haricots vertes or green beans, trimmed and halved across, with white and pale-green scallion pieces. Cook, unattended, for 2 minutes. Toss and cook, unattended, until vegetables have charred spots and are tender, another 1-2 minutes. Add the remaining 4 cloves of garlic, finely shredded, and the reserved dark green scallion. Stir often and cook until fragrant. Transfer green bean mixture onto a large platter. Step 5Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. In the same pan, heat vegetable oil on medium-high. Step 6Reduce the heat to medium, and return the green bean mixture to the pan. Add the reserved sauce to the pan and stir often until it starts to cling onto the chicken and green beans. This should take 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from heat. Add 1 tsp. Step 7Mound the stir-fry onto a plate and top it with the thinly sliced scallion that you have reserved. If desired, serve with steamed rice.

​

Zaynab developed over 100 recipes during her time in the Epicurious and Bon Appetit Test Kitchens. She’s most proud, however, of these Chewy Dark Chocolate and Date Cookies, which are spiked with olive and tahini. She says they “flip the traditional chocolate chip cookie on its head, but in a good way.” Issa is an expert in food media. She runs a successful Substack, where she posts carefully tested recipes, travel suggestions, and essays. She makes viral videos, including this banana cream latte that will make you swoon. She published Third Culture Cooking last year (which made our list of the best cookbooks for spring 2025). Her work has appeared on Buzzfeed, Food52 and The New York Times. She’s also been featured in Bon Appetit and Epicurious. How about these Ultra Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes. Issa told me that this recipe was her Achilles’ heel when I spoke with her. “Pancakes can be difficult to make, as they require a tender crumb and a crisp outside. She said that adding the extra liquid from canned pumpkin to the mix was a challenge. After lots of trial-and-error, I knew I had it right when Andy Baraghani brought the pancakes to his station for lunch. We would do the exact same thing!

​

It’s easy to upgrade your kitchen tools by swapping out the plastic handles and mystery materials. Our top nontoxic picksThe best overall nontoxic utensil: GIR Ultimate UtensilSetA beautiful wooden set Jonathan’s Spoons EssentialsA fantastic full metal set All-Clad Pro Stainless Steel Kitchen UtensilSetChoosing a material is more difficult. You’ll find a variety of materials in any kitchen store, including wood, silicone and stainless steel. Each material has its supporters and its limitations. Each has its advocates and limitations. It is also nonreactive and won’t react with acidic ingredients such as tomato sauce or citrus, like some metals. It’s dishwasher-safe, nonporous, and won’t crack with repeated washing. It won’t scratch enameled cast-iron. It can feel a little grippy and drag-heavy, compared to, say, a thin fish spatula. Some silicone utensils also pick up odors with time. I’ve had silicone spatulas for months that smelled like dish soap. You may also find that silicone is not very effective for scraping a pan, especially if you want to add flavor by blending fond into a sauce. A wooden spoon would be a good option for this situation. But for the vast majority of everyday cooking tasks–stirring, folding, sauteing, serving–high-quality silicone outperforms the competition on the merits that matter most.Why five pieces?The same logic that makes a 7-piece cookware set a better starting point than a 15-piece one applies here: More isn’t always better, and the average home cook will reach for the same handful of tools repeatedly. A five-piece silicone set that is well-designed will include a large spoon for stirring sauces and soups and for serving. It may also include a slotted spatula for draining and serving, a flexible spatula for pancakes, eggs, and fish, a solid spatula for heavier tasks such as flipping burgers and moving proteins, and a ladle and tongs depending on the type of cooking you do. Not every set is broken down in this way, and that’s okay. A three-piece tool set that includes your everyday tools is better than a five-piece kit with two pieces you’ll never use. The best nontoxic utensil sets are GIR Ultimate Utensil,GirUltimate Utensil,$70 on AmazonGIR (Get it Right) makes the best silicone utensils. Its tools are made of 100% platinum silicone which, among other things is a method to keep odors away from the utensils. This makes them more durable and heat-safe than other sets. This is more important than you might think: Many budget silicone utensils have a nylon or fiberglass core to provide rigidity. However, this can cause problems if the silicone outer coating ever cracks or peels. What you see is exactly what you get with GIR.