I have to admit, I am not much of a baker. Ilyssa usually handles that department. I also don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I would much rather prefer an order of fries than a slice of chocolate cake. Actually, I would prefer fries with a chocolate shake, a highly underrated dessert option, that is sadly only available at fast food restaurants and diners. Hopefully, someone at Central is reading this and will come up with a high end version of a Chocolate Shake and French Fries dessert option.
I digress, for those of you that love the salty sweet combination, Momofuku Crack Pie will surely not disappoint you. This pie has a fanatical following and has won the hearts of Anderson Cooper and Martha Stewart. As an added benefit, this recipe produces enough, for not one but TWO crack pies, double the crack for your money!
For $44 a pie, it better be good, damn good. However, I do take issue with the name – Crack Pie. I mean do you know how good crack is? Probably not, because if you did, (keep in my mind, 100% of my knowledge of crack is from The Wire) you probably wouldn’t be reading this food blog, you would be at a construction site stealing copper pipes to buy more crack. Would I raid a construction site? No. Would I lie to my family, tell them I had made only one crack pie and keep the second crack pie to myself and eat it by myself alone in a closet? Maybe……oh ok….YES.
This pie is salty, gooey, sweet and delicious. Go ahead and make it. It is certainly a lot easier than taking the Chinatown Bus to NYC, waiting in line and paying $44 for a pie.
Look at how gooey and delicious that is……
Momofuku Crack Pie – From the Momofuku Cookbook
Servings: Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)
Note: You can use 9 inch pie pans if that is what you got. You may have to cook it for 5 minutes more since the pie will be thicker. T
Cookie for crust
2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar
1 egg
Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats
1. Heat the 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, about 20 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 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon 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 (10-inch) pie tins. 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 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar
3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) milk powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 cup plus a scant 2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon 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 10 minutes. 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.
Each of 16 servings: 432 calories; 4 grams protein; 45 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 27 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 187 mg. cholesterol; 36 grams sugar; 125 mg. sodium.
