baking

My Obsession with Milk Bar Continues: Crack Pie

June 4, 2018 by Alyssa

My Milk Bar baking saga continues as I bake and review Milk Bar’s famous Crack Pie, a pop-culture phenomenon and an addictive, cult favorite dessert.

I have no idea why I’m so into making Milk Bar recipes. Maybe it’s because of all the hype around the dessert spot with the release of and her feature on Chef’s Table: Pastry. As a result, Milk Bar’s creations have become a pop-culture phenomenon.

And I guess, as the cult-like obsession grew, my curiosity about the desserts grew as well.

Check out my Milk Bar’s Birthday Cake review here.

What I really wanted to know was are Milk Bar desserts REALLY that good? If words like ‘Crack Pie’ and ‘Milk Bar’ are terms most of the foodie culture easily recognizes then ‘d expect the desserts to be damn delicious.

**And for me, damn delicious means ‘This is the best freakin’ thing I’ve ever tasted. I crave this food every single day. And I cannot stop shoving my face with it.’**

Basically, all self-control should be lost.

And, if you watched Chef’s Table when Christina Tosi talks about the naming of her infamous Crack Pie, her colleagues coined the dessert CRACK PIE because it’s supposed to be addicting — thus, losing all self-control.

So, I just had to make it myself and find out.

I followed the original Crack Pie recipe posted on Milk Bar’s website which actually results in TWO pies.

Though, I’m not really sure why this recipe can’t be split in half and why we need a recipe that results in two pies. Maybe it’s because Christina Tosi believed the pie was so damn delicious and if you make one and finish it took quickly, you’re going to be happy you now have a second one.

Fun fact though, you can freeze the second pie for months before actually eating it so really, having two is quite convenient!

I followed the recipe for Crack Pie pretty much exactly. The only modification I made was for the 1/4 cup of corn powder the filling required.

I wasn’t 100% sure what corn powder was but I made an educated guess that it was super fine cornmeal (corn flour) so I took a leap of faith, poured some cornmeal into the coffee bean grinder and spun the hell out of it until I had a 1/4 cup of light, airy corn powder.

Or, if you want, you can also order the genuine Milk Bar corn powder online. You decide. (My way’s cheaper.)

The recipe overall is pretty easy to make but it was much more time consuming that I had anticipated since there’s quite a few baking, cooling, and waiting steps.

First you have to bake the oatmeal cookie crust and let it cool
Then you have to make the crust and form it into the molds
Then you have to make the filling
Then you have to bake the pies for 15 minutes
Then you have to open the oven door and drop the temp by 25 degrees and bake the pies for an additional 5 minutes at the new, lower temperature

This is the part in the recipe where I was required to again improvise a bit. The recipe says the ‘pies should still be jiggly in the bull’s-eye center but not around the outer edges.’ However, I found that my pies were WAY jiggly all over so I kept them in for another 5 minutes. After checking it here, I noticed the tops getting pretty brown but they were still jiggly all over so I simply turned the oven off, shut the door, and let the pies sit in the heat for another 5 minutes before considering them done enough.

After you remove the pies from the oven and let them cool you then have to FREEZE the pies for at least 3 hours but overnight is best

Seriously, I don’t know what it is with Christina Tosi and freezing her desserts, the Birthday Cake had the same requirement. Sometimes you just want a sugar-rush and you don’t want to have to wait ‘3-hours or overnight is best’ #endrant

Then you have to remove it from the freezer and let it defrost for at least an hour, dust it with some powdered sugar, THEN you can eat it

So here’s my advice when making this pie —

Plan ahead. Make it at least a day in advance
If you have to bake it a bit more to get the filling to set up, you should cover the top with foil to keep the top from browning too much

Now, to be honest, I only had a sliver of this pie because I knew it was very rich in butter, sugar, and cream. And, on first bite, I wasn’t very impressed. I thought it was fine. But by the end of my little sliver, I could honestly say that it was pretty good!

Did it fit my DAMN DELICIOUS definition? No. Because I very easily gave the rest of the pie away. However, others who enjoyed my pies sent me the following reviews:

‘So delicious, just as good as Milk Bar’s itself’

‘O-M-G That may be the best thing I have ever had in my life’

‘OMG BABE! SOOOOOO [bad word here] GOOD’ <<<3M, obviously

And when I put it up for grabs at the office, it was gone in less than 5 minutes. Though, I think it was the Crack Pie’s pop-culture phenomenon that helped it along.

But, you be the judge.

Anyways, my final opinion is I probably wouldn’t make this pie again unless someone asked for it. In fact, I think it’s kind of a play of the traditional Southern Buttermilk Pie, if you’re familiar. I do however, have one more recipe on my Milk Bar bucket list, the Compost Cookies. I’m a cookie fan, so I’m hoping this is the winner.

What’s your thoughts? Have you had Milk Bar’s Crack Pie? Was it addicting or were you underwhelmed as I was?

How to Bake Perfect Cakes: Four Steps to Perfect Cakes Every Time

April 13, 2018 by Alyssa

Say goodbye to puffy cake tops with my four-step guide to baking perfect cakes. With this guide, you’ll have flat tops, even layers, and a cake that drops out of your pan without a crumb missing every time.

I bake a layered cake about once a month and over time I’ve honed my baking process to ensure I have perfect cakes with every bake. For me, perfect cakes mean flat tops, even layers, and a fully intact cake when I flip them out of the cake pans.

Although flat cake tops may not be high up on your perfect cakes quality list, I’ve found them to be life-changing. Having a flat cake top makes stacking the cakes much easier. It also means you don’t have to cut the tops off which can weaken the structure of the cake and creates less waste since the puffy cake top is often discarded once sliced off. If you use my 4-step guide to perfect cakes, I promise you’ll get even, flat, thick cakes with every bake.

Before you start, my recommendation is to calibrate your oven temperature. If you’ve never done it, here’s a handy guide!

STEP 1: PREP YOUR PAN

Here’s my method for prepping my cake pan

Grease
Flour
Line

The first thing you do to ensure perfect cakes is grease your cake pan. I like to use or butter for greasing my pan. I don’t recommend using vegetable oil or the all-in-one ‘made for bakers’ can that claims to grease and flour your cake pan all at once.

With the Crisco or butter, I simply slather some on a paper towel and rub it into every crevice of the cake pan, all the way to the rim. It doesn’t need to be a heavy coating just enough so it looks greasy without leaving globs of Crisco or butter visible on the pan.

Next, grab some flour (or cocoa powder for chocolate cakes) and dump about 3 tablespoons of the flour into each greased cake pan. Gently shake the flour all over the pan so every inch that you just covered in Crisco is now covered in flour. I usually do this over the sink or garbage for easy cleanup. If you see the flour isn’t sticking to a portion of your cake pan, simply add a little more Crisco to that area and shake again with flour. Dump out any extra, gently tapping the cake pan so there’s nothing left floating around.

Lastly, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your cake pan and place it on the bottom. If the parchment seems to roll up on you when you place it in the pan, add a little Crisco to one side and place the greased side down in the pan so the parchment stays in place. The parchment will help ensure your perfect cakes release from the pan without issue.

STEP 2: WRAP YOUR CAKE PAN

This sound silly and I honestly thought were a hoax until I tried it. My first time using the strips I was so impressed and I haven’t baked a cake without them since.

Here’s what I do — after I prep my pan with flour and parchment I fill a big bowl with cool water from the tap. I fully emerge my cake strips and I let them soak while I make the cake batter.

Once the batter’s made, I remove the cake strips from the water, wring them out thoroughly and tightly wrap the empty pans before filling them with batter. That’s it, cake strips are really so simple and they’re key to perfect cakes.

STEP 3: WEIGH YOUR BATTER

If you’re making multiple cakes you need to weigh your batter to ensure your cakes are even in size when they bake. If you’re just making one single cake in one cake pan, you can skip this step and head straight to the oven and bake your cakes.

When it comes time to separate your batter into different pans, . Place one prepared cake pan from Step 1 on the kitchen scale, tare the scale to zero then start adding batter. Add about half the batter to one pan, note the weight on the scale then remove the cake pan.

Put the second prepared cake pan on the scale, tare it to zero then add the same weight in batter to the second pan that you added to the first. If you still have batter left at this point then repeat the process again — add pan 1 to the scale, tare to zero, add batter, note added weight, repeat and match weight with pan 2 until all batter is gone. If you go over on one pan a bit just use a spoon to gently transfer the batter to the other cake pan.

Once the batter’s in the pan, you’re ready to bake!

STEP 4: COOL & FLIP

This is a no-brainer but before you even think about removing your cake from the pan let that baby cool completely.

Like seriously. Do not touch it.

I usually let my cakes cool on a wire rack which allows them cool a bit quicker as the air’s able to circulate around the entire cake pan. Once it’s completely cool, I use a small paring knife and run it around the inside perimeter of the cake pan to gently release the cake.

Next, I put the wire rack on top of the cake and flip it over, holding tightly to both the pan and the wire rack. You may need to tap the pan a little but your cake should fall right out. Voila! You have perfect cakes ready for frosting. Just simply remove the parchment paper and you’re good to go.

Fails to Follow Directions

April 1, 2013 by Alyssa

Confession: I suck at following directions, at least in the kitchen.

It’s not because I don’t read the recipe or forget a step in the process. It’s a deliberate, conscious effort to stray. The motivation behind this is mostly due to the fact that I always want to healthify my food. Healthify is probably foreign to most of you so let me explain.

Definition of HEALTHIFY (verb) the act of increasing the nutritional benefits of a specific food or recipe by substituting more nutritious ingredients

Examples of HEALTHIFY
“I just healthified this cake but swapping the oil for non-fat yogurt!”
“These cookies were healthified with flaxseed and whole-wheat flour.”
“We enjoyed healtified egg salad with avocado instead of mayo.”

Merriam-Webster, healthify is officially ready for insertion into the 2014 edition. Please remember to credit me prior to publishing.

Now, the only problem with healthifying a recipe is that you can’t healthify every ingredient. And I admit, at times, I get a bit carried away.
Whole Wheat Flour! Agave! Yogurt! Flaxseed! Almond Milk!

When you find yourself changing more than a third of the ingredients, it’s safe to say that you no longer healthified the recipe. You created an entirely NEW recipe – which is exactly what happened to me this weekend.

I set out to make my Mom’s traditional Chocolate Chip Cookies. Buttery, chocolatey, chewy goodness. And the kicker here is, that I had absolutely no intention of keeping any of these cookies for myself and began baking knowing I would be giving these away to friends. But, my inner healthifying baker took over and before I knew it, substitutions were flying high.

Half of the butter was replaced with greek yogurt
All-purpose flour was mixed with whole wheat
18 ounces of chocolate chips became 4 ounces of semi-sweet mini chips, 1/4 cup of flaxseed, 1/3 cup coconut and a 1/4 cup raisins
The sugar was halved and a squirt of agave was added

The kitchen, mid-healthification while I ran amuck searching for healthy swaps and additions.

Wham-Bam! My Mom’s Chocolate Chip Cookies were no more.

These babies had just completed 12 weeks at The Biggest Loser camp and after 11 minutes in the oven, they were ready for their big reveal. So how did these cookies turn out? Let’s do a little comparison of the original recipe versus the healthified chocolate chip cookies.