
About this episode
Jesse Szewczyk shares his Chocolate Guinness Cake recipe and discusses frosting challenges with co-host Shilpa Uskokovic, while guest Helen Goh talks about her dual career as a baker and psychologist.
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…
People in this episode
Hosts: Jesse Szewczyk, Shilpa Uskokovic
Guest: Helen Goh
Topics covered
- baking
- cake
- frosting
- Guinness
- psychology
- recipe development
Keywords
- Chocolate Guinness Cake
- baking
- frosting
- brown butter
- recipe
- psychology
- Helen Goh
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Bon Appétit, Yotam Ottolenghi
Books & works: Baking & the Meaning of Life
More episodes of Bon Appétit
- BA Bake Club: Whole Lemon Bars · June 2, 2026 · 49 min
- BA Bake Club: Strawberry Roll Cake · May 5, 2026 · 45 min
- BA Bake Club: Cheddar Biscuits With Old Bay · March 3, 2026 · 48 min
- BA Bake Club: Homemade Bagels · February 3, 2026 · 51 min
- From The Chef’s Cut podcast: Jamila Robinson on Leading Bon Appétit · January 13, 2026 · 48 min
- BA Bake Club: Boozy Cherry & Chocolate Pavlova · January 6, 2026 · 49 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Bon Appétit podcast page.