Birthday Cake Shots

 Who says you can't have your cake and drink it too?  Not me.  Birthday Cake Shots.  Yes, I said cake and shots.  I've been up to my elbows in cake for the past year, creating recipes for Duncan Hines.  So cake is sort of my life right now.

I'm sure you've heard of all the flavored vodkas out there but now you can find cake flavored vodka and whipped cream flavored vodka as well.  I first spotted some of these recipes on the Pinnacle Vodka website as well as on Sweetapolita.  Now while you probably wouldn't want a whole martini glass of one of these, the shots do make a festive way to celebrate with your friends. 

I don't like cocktails that are super strong so I have altered the alcohol amounts to make it a little smoother.  A final note: I do not recommend testing this recipe right before you go pick up your children from school.  It's only one shot but still...people may talk.

Bottoms up!

Birthday Cake Shots
Adapted from Pinnacle Vodka Website & Sweetapolita
Yield: 1 shot

1/2 ounce Cake Flavored Vodka (I used Three Olives brand)
1/2 ounce Whipped Creme Flavored Vodka (I used Pinnacle)
1 ounce half-n-half
1 teaspoon dry cake mix (I used yellow)
2-3 ice cubes
whipped creme
sprinkles or nonpareils

1. Combine vodkas, half-n-half, cake mix and ice cubes in cocktail shaker and shake until well mixed.
2. Strain into a shot glass and top with whipped creme, sprinkles and straw.

Whazz Up?

It has been a flurry of activity around here for months.  Here's what I've been up to:

• Apparently I was passed up on the May 21st rapture.  That's ok.  I have more Real Housewives series to catch up on.

• I did a 3-day juice cleanse.  I was hungry. I lost 3 lbs (which was not my goal) but BONUS.  My life was not transformed in the way some have written about.  I did feel like it helped me to get back on track following a Disney week-long diet of foods I don't usually eat. And I reaffirmed that beets are on the very short list of foods I can't choke down even if my life depends on it.

• I've decided to take up drinking bourbon.  (Not as a hobby, just on occasion.) Every interesting cocktail recipe I see lately contains bourbon.  

• Speaking of bourbon, this is my new favorite grown-up milkshake to serve at parties...

Vanilla Caramel Bourbon Milkshake 

Serves 1-2
 
1/2 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups premium vanilla ice cream
2-3 tablespoons pourable caramel sauce1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon

Mix in blender and serve.

• I've gone viral!!!  I did a few months of work testing products and creating recipes for Duncan Hines commercials and campaigns.  If you go to the Duncan Hines Facebook page you can watch the commercial.  After the commercial you can click on any of the desserts and watch videos of me demo'ing some tips and techniques.  To find me, look for these "kitchen timer" icons...

 

 Click and there I'll be...

Don't I look joyful and perky?  Don't judge.  I was very excited to show home bakers how easy some of these professional techniques are to do at home. 

• I also developed new burger recipes for Vlasic pickles.  Click here and try some of these recipes out.  My personal faves are the Zesty Garlic Guacamole Burger and the State Fair Fried Pickle Burger.  My family loves the BBQ Bread and Butter Burger.

So there you have it. (Which I say far too often in these videos.  Not really the catchphrase I dreamt of being associated with...) That is what I've been busy with.  How's things with you?

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

Some days you may feel all high falutin' and fancy pants.  You may want to execute a beautifully complicated elegant dessert with glazes and chocolate curls and gold leaf.  Other days you may want to put on your ripped jeans (or just stay in your pj's), snarf down something sweet and keep it real.  This recipe is for you my friend.  It's from one of my favorite bakers, the boys behind Baked Explorations.  Not to be all bossy but GO GET THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.

The cake has a caramel-y flavor from the dark brown sugar and a wonderful oatmeal cookie vibe from the oatmeal and cinnamon.  The recipe says you can serve it as a breakfast treat without the cream cheese frosting...to which I say "You don't know me very well, do you?"  Make the frosting.  The cake is great the day of but even better the day after you make it.

I confess, I tried to go a little fancy pants on you by turning it out of the pan and trying to cut perfectly neat and perpendicular rectangles of cake just to impress you.  Yeah.  That didn't work so well.  So don't do that.  Who do I think I am anyway?  So I'm back to keeping it real. And eating it out of the pan with a fork.  Sorry, was that a little too real for you?

Deliciousness before beauty

Post-fork apocalypse

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
Ever so slightly adapted from Baked Explorations
Yield: 1 9 x 13 inch cake

8 ounces milk chocolate chips
1/2 t Scotch, bourbon, or rum or favorite liquor
1 1/2 cups plus 2 T all-purpose flour
1 c rolled oats
1 1/4 c boiling water
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into cubes
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 c sugar
1 1/4 c dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 1/2 t cinnamon

Frosting:
5 T unsalted butter, softened
5 1/2 ounces cream cheese, at room temp
2 c confectioners sugar
3/4 t vanilla
a small pinch of salt
 
1. Preheat oven to 375F.  Using baking spray (or butter) coat the sides and bottom of 9 x 13 baking pan.  Boil the 1 1/4 cups of water.
2. In a small bowl, toss chocolate chips with the liquor.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour over the chips and toss until coated.
3. Place oats and cubed butter in a large bowl.  Add boiling water and wait 30 seconds. Stir to melt butter and moisten oats. Set aside for 30 minutes.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, sugars, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Fold in cooled oatmeal mixture and stir until well combined.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and the chocolate chips. Gently combine.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.  Cool cake completely in pan before frosting.
6. To prepare frosting, mix butter and confectioners sugar in a standing mix or using a hand mixer.  When completely combined, add the softened cream cheese and vanilla and pinch of salt. Combine until smooth.
7. Spread frosting over cooled cake and refrigerate to set up before serving.

Kitchen Sink Skillet Cookie

Remember those giant chocolate chip cookies you could get at the mall for a birthday or party?  Are those places still open or did they go the way of Orange Julius?  I always wanted one of those.  I thought of them the other day when I got a request for chocolate chip cookies but I wanted to shake it up a bit.  I mixed up my dough with anything I could find in the pantry and plopped it into a 10-inch cast iron skillet. 

I call these Kitchen Sink cookies because you can use up any leftover ingredients you may have on hand in them.  I used coffee grounds, chocolate and butterscotch chips and if I'd had any leftover pretzels or potato chips I would have crushed those and dropped them in too.  Below is what I used, but feel free to play with the recipe, just don't exceed 1 1/2 cups for your mix-ins.  If your skillet is well-seasoned, the baked cookie will easily come out when you flip it.  If not, cut and serve right from the pan. Slice it into wedges and serve alone or warmed with ice cream.

Kitchen Sink Skillet Cookie
Serves 16
 
2 cups of flour
1 egg
3/4 c butter at room temperature
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
2 t vanilla
1/4 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c Guittard semi-sweet chocolate super cookie chips
1/4 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
3T coffee grounds

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together.

2.  Combine butter and sugars with mixer.  When well mixed, add egg and vanilla. Once egg and vanilla are incorporated, add dry ingredients and mix just until flour disappears.

3.  Gently incorporate your mix-ins (chips, chocolate, coffee grounds, nuts, etc.) Bake in a 10-inch cast iron or oven safe skillet for 40 min.  Let cool completely before cutting or turning out of pan.

Just Because You Can Doesn't Mean You Should

Beautiful, unsuspecting tomatoes

I would like to consider myself a culinary Jedi.  Brave, creative, trusting the force.  I tend to order the most unusual offerings on a menu.  I buy ingredients I've never seen before just to try them out.  But sometimes, the force is not with you.  Sometimes, you just need to say no.

I have discovered these things about myself:
1. I like lavender in potpourri, not food.
2. I love bacon. I love chocolate.  I do not love them together.  I've tried.  A lot.
3. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

The most recent example of #3 was a recipe for a Tomato Tarte Tatin in the August 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  How intriguing, I thought!  A dessert with tomatoes!  I lovingly picked the plum tomatoes from my garden, blanched and peeled them then simmered them in sugar & butter.  Once the juices turned to a caramel I added the vanilla and a puff pastry topping and transferred it to the oven.  The preface to the recipe said "Be prepared to be blown away."  Blown away, I was not.  Peeved was I (said in my best Yoda voice).

There was so much sugar in the recipe that it was cloyingly sweet.  The vanilla was overpowering.  My biggest complaint however, was that you could taste none of the tomatoey-ness of the tomatoes.  It could have been plums for all I could taste.  The recipe killed the tomato flavor. And that is what killed me. 

When you have an ingredient at the peak of its season, sometimes you can pay it the most respect by leaving it alone.  Foams are cool. I am intrigued by new ideas and molecular gastronomy.  BUT, good food does not have to be labor intensive or contain 25 ingredients.  A sweet tomato with a little olive oil and sea salt is a beautiful thing to behold. 

So the next time you're tempted to reinvent the wheel, (I'm talking to you, Bon Appetit!) step away from the tomatoes and remember that just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. 

The crime scene

Momofuku Strawberry Milk

Here is another way to use the elderflower syrup I talked about here and here.  This is Christina Tosi's recipe for Strawberry Milk.  She is the pastry chef at Momofuku Milk Bar.  I have gushed about her numerous times, having said I'll be first in line to buy her cookbook if she ever writes one.  Well...she has inked a deal to write a cookbook.  The word round the internet is that it should be released in the fall of 2011.  Giddyup!

Now, this Strawberry Milk.  It's like a melted strawberry milkshake with amped up strawberry flavor and the sweet, citrusy, floral hint that the elderflower syrup adds.  If you can't find the elderflower syrup, you can make your own by combining elderflower liqueur with a simple syrup.  Simple syrup is equal amounts of water and sugar, warmed until the sugar is fully dissolved. 

I think this would be great as part of a dessert course.  It is sweet so it could stand alone as a dessert but how great would it be to pair it with a grilled banana bread sandwich with chocolate ganache in the middle?!

Besides the elderflower syrup, the only other things you must have are a food scale and patience.  The recipe uses weights and ratios which is why you need a food scale.  You need patience because straining the strawberry puree through a fine mesh strainer is laborious.  (Promise me every time you say "lah-BOR-ious" you'll say it with a Transylvanian accent a la Dracula.)  In fact, I should have made my intern handle the puree.  If I had one that is...

Enough chit chat, let's make some strawberry milk!

Momofuku Strawberry Milk
Courtesty of Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar and Bakery & The Dairy Show


1 quart whole milk
180g elderflower syrup (or make a simple syrup and flavor it with elderflower liquor)
665g strawberry puree (put strawberries in a blender add 10% sugar by weight, blend, and then strain)
sugar
65g plain yogurt
pinch of salt

1. Wash and hull strawberries and weigh.
2. Take the weight of your strawberries and calculate 10% of that weight to determine how much sugar you'll need to add.  (I had 22 ounces of berries, therefore my sugar in weight should be 2.2 ounces.)
2. Put strawberries in blender and add your sugar.  Puree.
3. Using a fine mesh strainer and the patience God gave you, pour the puree into the strainer.  Use a rubber scraper to keep pressing the puree back and forth down through the strainer.  Continue until you can't take it anymore or until only seeds remain.  (I ended up with 2 1/2 cups of seedless puree.)
4. Combine the seedless puree, yogurt, elderflower syrup, pinch of salt and milk in a large pitcher.  Whisk to combine.

This is before I started to resent the lovely puree.

This is where I said, "I'm over it."

This is where I said, "Yum." And then apologized to the puree.

Elderflower Fruit Salad

I'm a girl who likes a good bargain.  If I'm going to buy a new exotic-ish ingredient I want a few ways to use it.  Remember when I posted about this cocktail?  And I told you to go buy this...

Rather than have this lovely citrusy, floral syrup languish in your refrigerator after you've made your cocktails, here are a few other uses for this Ikea Elderflower syrup.

Drizzle a teaspoon or two over the freshest, most beautiful berries you can find right now.  Throw in some mint and gently toss with your fingers.  The Elderflower syrup adds a mysterious floral sweetness to the mix that takes the fruit to a new level.

If you're not in a cocktail mood, mix some of the syrup with seltzer or club soda for a bubbly fruity soda.

I have one more use for this syrup coming your way this week that I'm excited to try.  Stay tuned...

Cake Gallery

All that remains of the 4th of July holiday extravaganza...

I love the wow factor of this cake.  On the outside, a mild-mannered, dare I say boring cake.  The Clark Kent of cakes.

But cut into it and SHAZAM, it's the hit of the party! (Sorry to be mixing my superhero references.  Extra credit if you can name the Saturday morning superhero who said "Shazam!" when he transformed.)

This cake has been blogged about a few times but I think credit originally goes to 17 and Baking.  I made mine a little taller, more stripes, etc.  I used a buttermilk lemon cake with a lemon cream cheese frosting.

In other cake news, we made a double graduation cake for a college graduate and a graduate of pharmaceutical school.  Two diplomas, grad cap and a prescription pad.

Finally a chocolate cake with a cookies and cream filling, vanilla buttercream and oreos on top.

Make Your Own Ice Cream Cake

As I've mentioned before, my husband loves ice cream cake.  And for ten years I've dutifully purchased said ice cream cake for all his celebratory occasions.   But it kills my foodie sensibilities to buy one at the grocery store.  So, sorry honey, the honeymoon is over because I just can't restrain myself anymore.  MUST. MAKE. HOMEMADE. ICE CREAM CAKE. 

I'm keeping all the elements he loves, a crunchy cookie bottom, a fudgy layer and a creamy, marshmallowy layer on top.  This Father's Day I'm hoping to convert him over to the dark side.  If it doesn't work, we've got a stack of presents to make it up to him.  Update:  He loved it even more than the store bought ice cream cake of his childhood.  My evil plan has succeeded.  Today ice cream cake, tomorrow the world!

I went with an Oreo theme with my crust and ice creams.  I may try a Coffee ice cream and Butter Pecan combo next time around.  Even a Neopolitan would be cute, one layer each of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate.

Recipe Note: I did not frost the sides of my cake but I think I may next time.  Also, once you unmold and cut the cake: keep the cake on the springform bottom but put the whole thing inside of a 10 or 11 inch round cake pan to keep any leftovers to the freezer. In other words, you won't be able to reattach the sides of the springform pan and the cake pan will catch any melting ice cream.

Do-It-Yourself Ice Cream Cake
Serves 12


1 9 oz. pkg of chocolate wafer cookies
4T salted butter, melted
2t sugar
2 gallons of ice cream (I used Mint Cookie and Cookies and Cream)
1 14.5 oz. jar of Dove fudge sauce
8 oz.  of marshmallow fluff
1 pint of heavy cream
1/2 pkg. of Oreo cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Process wafer cookies in a food processor until reduced to crumbs.  Add in sugar and melted butter.  Stir with a fork to combine. 
3. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake crust in oven for 8 minutes.  Let cool.
4. Soften first flavor of ice cream.  I used the paddle attachment and my stand mixer.  (Please note, this turned my mint cookie ice cream sort of grayish in color from the cookies mixing throughout the green ice cream.  Lesson learned: If you care, use a spatula and do it by hand instead.) You want the ice cream spreadable, but not melted.  Layer ice cream over cooled crust.  Add a layer of crushed Oreos and freeze for 30 minutes.
5. Warm the fudge sauce by placing a jar of it in a small pan of simmering water on the stove.  You want the fudge sauce merely spreadable, not hot!
6. Working quickly, spread fudge sauce over bottom ice cream layer.  Refreeze for at least 30 minutes.
7. Soften second flavor of ice cream in mixer and spread it over the fudge layer. Refreeze. 
8. Using the whisk attachment, whip the pint of heavy cream until you have stiff peaks.  Gently fold in the marshmallow fluff until well combined.
9.  Spread the marshmallow fluff/whipped cream layer over the last ice cream layer and return to freezer.  You will have leftover fluff/cream.  If you wish, you can use this to frost the sides of the cake after you unmold it from the springform pan.
10. When ready to serve, defrost for 5-10 minutes.  Then run a sharp knife around the edges of your springform pan and release sides of the pan. 

Gin and Tonic Sorbet

Nothing says summer like a Gin & Tonic.  Well, sunburn, mosquito bites, humidity, those say summer too.  But a G & T says summer in a better way.

I've done sorbets with white wine, red wine, with limoncello, so why not gin and tonic?  This could not be simpler but is such an unusual surprise to any one who tries it.   This sorbet can be a dessert, a slushy cocktail or a refreshing palate cleanser between courses during a dinner party.

Gin and Tonic Sorbet

1/2 c water
1/2 c sugar
1 lime zested, then juiced
2 1/2 c tonic water
4 ounces Bombay Sapphire gin


1. Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan.  Heat and stir until sugar is completely dissolved into the water.  Set aside to cool.
2.  Once sugar syrup is cooled, add lime zest, lime juice, tonic water and gin.  Taste and see if you want more lime or more tonic, etc.  Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
3.  Use your ice cream maker as directed.  The consistency will still look slushy when it is done mixing. Transfer into a container and freeze until ready to serve.

*Note: If you don't have an ice cream maker, freeze the liquid in a wide, shallow container and every half hour take two forks and scrape them across the frozen top to create a granita-like consistency.

Summer Fruit Pavlova

Don't you just want to dive into that face first?  Or maybe that's just me.  This is a great summer dessert because it's light and you can use any kind of summer fruit.  You can even do it without the sauce, just fruit, whipped cream and meringue.

This is also a great solution for how to use up those eight egg whites you have leftover from the latest yolk-only baking project.  Or maybe that's just me.  And it's purty.

This recipe is slightly adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa.  I love her.  Her recipes always work and they are elegant enough for a dinner party but still homey, comforting and delicious.  I want to be her when I grow up.  Or at least inherit her house, after all she has no children to pass it on to.  Hi Aunt Ina!

One note: Meringues do not do well on a humid day.  Yah, I know I just described most summer days.  Anyway, keep in mind you'll be tempting fate if you try to execute this on a muggy day, ya rebels.
Because of tempramental meringue, this is a "eat it the day you make it" dessert.  I guess that means you're just going to have to polish off whatever is left at midnight.  Or maybe that's just me.

Summer Fruit Pavlova
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa
 Serves 6-8 
  
Meringue:
4 extra-large egg whites, at room temp 
pinch of kosher salt 
1 c sugar
2t cornstarch
1t white wine vinegar
1/2 t vanilla
4 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups blueberries


Whipped Cream:
1 c heavy cream
1T sugar
1t vanilla

 Fruit Sauce:
1 cup strawberries, chopped
1/4 c sugar
12 ounce jar of red fruit jam, I used cherry

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Using a pie or dinner plate, draw a 9-inch circle on the parchment with pencil.  Turn parchment over.  You will be able to see your circle through the paper.  Set aside.
3. Place egg whites and salt in bowl of mixer using the whisk and beat on high until firm, about 1 minutes.
4.  While still mixing on high speed, gradually pour in sugar to egg whites.  Beat until you have firm shiny peaks that stand up, 2-3 minutes. To test this,  detach the whisk then dip it into the meringue and turn upside down.  If your egg whites hold their shape and don't droop you're done.
5. Sift cornstarch into beaten egg whites and add vinegar and vanilla.  Gently fold ingredients with a rubber scraper until mixed.
6. Transfer meringue into to your drawn circle on the parchment. Use an offset spatula to spread meringue to the edges and smooth.
7. Bake for 90 minutes then turn off oven and leave meringue in oven with the door closed for another hour. 
8. Transfer to plate.

Egg whites before baking

Whipping Cream:
9. In mixer beat heavy cream at high speed until it starts to thicken.  Add in sugar and vanilla and continue beating until firm. Chill until ready to serve.

Fruit Sauce:
10.  Mash chopped strawberries with 1/4 c sugar.  Transfer to a small saucepan.
11. Add in fruit jam and bring to a boil.  Simmer over low heat until mixture is bubbly and fruit has softened.
12. Once cooked, pour the mixture into a food processor and process until smooth.  Chill.

To Assemble:
13. Spoon whipped cream onto meringue disk, leaving a one inch border of meringue all around.
14. Mound your strawberries and blueberries on top of whipped cream.
15.  Spoon chilled fruit sauce over the pavlova.  Serve immediately.

Cooked meringue topped with whipped cream

With berries and sauce

Strawberry Scones with Honey Thyme Butter

Strawberry scones have been popping up everywhere lately on the "internets".  Here and here and here. I have a love/hate relationship with scones.  I love moist scones or scones fresh from the oven.  I hate dry, dense scones that make a better doorstop than breakfast item.   But strawberry scones piqued my interest.  It made me decide to give scones another chance, you know, see if they've learned anything during our breakup. We're taking it slowly--keeping it casual for now, seeing where it goes.

I've been experimenting with different recipes, seeing as we're not exclusive.  Some use buttermilk, others use sour cream, some with heavy cream.  Some with baking soda and baking powder, some with just baking powder, etc.  I've settled on creating this recipe for now.  Using fresh strawberries, instead of a dried fruit ups the moisture content.  You'll notice I've added up to an additional 1/4 c of flour to the recipe to account for how juicy your berries are.  I've put some lemon zest in to brighten the flavor.  I've also added a recipe for Honey Thyme Butter to accompany your scones--I love the pairing of strawberries and thyme.  As for the scones and I...maybe love is better the second time around.

Fresh Strawberry Scones
Makes approximately 16 scones
 

2 c  flour + 1/4 c additional flour
2 t baking powder
1 egg
1 t vanilla
3 t lemon zest
1/2 t sea salt
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c very cold butter, cubed
1/2 c very cold heavy cream
3/4 c diced fresh strawberries

For the topping:
1 T heavy cream
2T Demera sugar or Sugar in the Raw



1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. Cut butter into cubes and refrigerate until ready to use.
4. Put the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times to mix.
5. Add the cubed butter and lemon zest to the flour mixture and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Do not overmix.
6. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
7. Measure your cream into a liquid measuring cup and whisk the egg and vanilla into the cream. Add the liquids to the dry mixture mixing with a fork, and stir until just combined – do not over mix!
8. Add your diced strawberries and turn dough onto a lightly floured board.
9. If your strawberries are very juicy, you may have to add up to 1/4c of additional flour.  You want the dough to be tacky, but not sticky.
10.  Gently pat out dough into a rectangle, about 1 inch high.
11.  Cut dough into three rows, then cut each row into triangles.
12. Transfer to parchment lined baked sheets.  Brush tops with cream and sprinkle on sugar.
13. Bake for 20 minutes.

Honey Thyme Butter
1/2 stick of salted butter, softened
2t honey
1t fresh minced thyme

Combine all ingredients then refrigerate until ready to use.

Momofuku Crack Pie

In case you didn't know, I make cakes for people.  Elaborate cakes like these.  Inevitably, I get a lot of "I bet your kids' birthday cakes are unbelievable!"  And therein lies the rub.  My family is not interested in my cakes.  Sniff, sniff.

My husband, he only wants his first love, a Carvel ice cream cake.  My 6-year-old wanted a "decorate your own cupcake bar" for her birthday.  My 8-year-old is driving a final stake into my heart with her birthday request.  Instead of a birthday cake that looks like a giant box of movie popcorn, she wants....Momofuku Crack Pie.

I must confess, I can't blame her.  This stuff is appropriately named.  And before you call Child Protective Services on me, she thinks it's just called Momofuku Pie (sans the Crack).  I first had this at David Chang's dessert restaurant, Milk Bar in NYC which is adjacent to his famed Momofuku Ssam Bar restaurant.

Christina Tosi is the genius pastry chef at Milk Bar responsible for this life changing dessert as well as others not to be missed.  If there is a God, she will put out a dessert cookbook.  And I will camp out the night before the release date in front of Barnes and Noble, like an 80's groupie at a Motley Crue concert, waiting with absolutely no shame.  If you ever have the chance to stop in at Milk Bar, order one of everything they offer. 

So this pie.  It's hard to explain.  It's very sweet, a little salty.  Almost butterscotch-y with an oatmeal cookie crust.  I'm not sure what to compare it to.  But it's enough that the almost 8-year-old foodie deemed it "the best dessert EVER". Thus we will stick 8 candles into this humble little pie and introduce her friends to the world of crack.  PIE, people, PIE!!!  Geesh.

Momofuku Crack Pie
Makes 2 pies, serves 16
Reprinted and slightly adapted from the Los Angeles Times

Cookie for crust
2/3 c plus 1T (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 t baking powder
Scant 1/8 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 c (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3T (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 c (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

1.  Heat oven to 375 degrees
2.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.  In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.
5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.
6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, mine took about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Crust
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 T (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 t salt

Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (9-inch) pie plates. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling
1 1/2 c (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3/4 c plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 t salt
1/3 c plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) non-fat dry milk powder
1 c (2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 c plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 t vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
2 prepared crusts
Powdered sugar, garnish

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.
3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.
4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 18-20 minutes. The filling will still look bubbly and molten.  Remove the pies and cool on a rack.
6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.