# The drag queen of Polish desserts > A Bake Club editor spent six years pitching karpatka, then made it for the first time on the job. - Title: The drag queen of Polish desserts · Bon Appétit | Shortify - Summary: A Bake Club editor spent six years pitching karpatka, then made it for the first time on the job. Beat the eggs into your choux on high for five full… - Keywords: baking, choux pastry, polish desserts, cheesecake, podcast, food, lifestyle, drag, queen, Polish, desserts, Bon Appétit - Source: Bon Appétit — https://bonappetit.com/story/listen-to-ba-bake-clubs-podcast-on-plum-karpatka-polish-cream-puff-cake - Author: Emily Elias - Published: 2026-09-09T15:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: baking, choux pastry, polish desserts, cheesecake, podcast, food, lifestyle ## Six years of pitching Bon Appétit test kitchen editor Jesse Szewczyk had been trying to get a karpatka recipe published since before he had ever made one start to finish. ## Components, not recipes He had made every part before, just never assembled in this order. That is the whole Bake Club argument: learn building blocks and new bakes stop being new. > I just haven't arranged the puzzle pieces in this fashion. ## Why drag queen Karpatka is a Polish cake of two wildly puffed choux discs sandwiching cream. Jesse calls it big, boisterous and silly, and the copy desk let him keep the phrase. > the drag queen of Polish desserts ## Choux, baked in a pan Bake Club already did a Paris-Brest, choux piped freeform on a sheet tray. This bakes the same paste in two cake pans, where it climbs into wonky domes. ## Two roots, one cake The filling is a no-bake cheesecake, an American move. The plum compote nods to Jesse's Polish side. Traditionally karpatka is an Easter and Christmas bake. ## Start with the plums Cook plums with sugar and salt until thick, then finish with lemon zest, juice and vanilla. Red plums throw a stain-your-hands color that reads dramatic in the slice. ## Plums are the Polish apple Americans have a saying about apples for everything. In Poland the sayings are about plums, and plums land right in that gap between peak summer and cold weather. ## Cook the jam dry Reduce until a spatula dragged through holds its streak for a second. Too loose and it weeps into the filling when you slice. > You're not making caramel, but it needs to have body. ## Beat the hell out of it The breakthrough: after the eggs go in, run the mixer on high for five full minutes. The batter visibly aerates and bakes up twice as tall. > It was like a little gnome hat. ## Know when to stop cooking A thin film forming on the pan bottom means the starches have gelatinized and the paste is done. Overcooking it is nearly impossible; it would burn first. ## Never grease the sides Choux needs to grip the wall to climb, like a souffle. Greased or non-stick pans make it slip and stay flat. Parchment on the bottom only. ## Glue the parchment down Wet choux slides on loose parchment. Dab a few blobs of the paste under the round as goo dots, then smear the rest on top. Uneven is fine, it adds to the whimsy. ## Cream cheese beats pastry cream The traditional mousseline filling died fast and wept. Deputy food editor Hannah suggested cream cheese, and Jesse pushed it all the way to cheesecake. > It proved perhaps too ephemeral. ## Gelatin buys you days A little bloomed gelatin turns a sad slump into a clean slice that survives hours on a counter. Bloom in cold water, dissolve fully in warm cream, or you get rubbery specks. ## Swirl with restraint Build in layers inside a parchment collar, dollop the jam, barely drag it. Whatever looks right going in will look overswirled once it sets and you cut. ## Bend a spoon into an L A junk spoon bent to 90 degrees reaches into a tall collar and places filling where you want it. Useful on any layer cake. > It's a work spoon. I'm not paying for it. ## Flip it with your hand After eight hours, peel the collar, put a hand on top and flip in one motion. It is hefty and set. Nothing happens. > It's going to feel scary taking it out, but it's hefty. ## The swipe that sells it Before dusting with powdered sugar, run an offset or bench scraper around the sides. It smooths the cake and bleeds red into white like a painting. > You don't have to do this, but you should. ## Bake it darker than you think A gummy center means underbaked. Take the discs to a medium wood shade, past golden, so they hold up to a wet filling and a night in the fridge. ## Ruby Bhogal's 80 cakes The Bake Off season nine finalist stopped by to talk about three years spent chasing cake histories worldwide. Her karpatka riff is peanut butter and jelly. > People get really upset if you don't make it how their nan has made it. ## Key takeaway Beat the eggs into your choux on high for five full minutes. Air you whip in mechanically is what doubles the puff.