But through the year, I kept spotting her names in dozens of American blogs and articles. And it was enough to pique my interest. I saw that her bakery Momofuku's Milk Bar made it to the top 10 bakeries of the year in New York, year after year. I saw that she was reinventing and inventing desserts that had everyone talking And it was no surprises then that she won the 2012 James Beard Award as well.
Last year though, I read the recipe of her crack pie on my friend Marsha Thompson aka the Harried Cook's blog and had been totally enamored by her description of it. Plus Marsha added as a caution that you'd just not be willing to share this pie.
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So when this month's Daring Baker's challenge was announced. I knew exactly what I wanted to bake. Rachael from Pizzarossa was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie!
And crack pie it was. Ofcourse that meant you had to bake the the crust, crumble it, bake the filling and let it sit overnight. A really long wait for the pie. But it was worth every single moment of it.
This is some pie! I mean it's a serious pie. And as a serious pie lover, you need to be someone who loves caramel to enjoy it completely. Story goes, that this pie is as addictive as crack, which is why the name. The crust is salty sweet, the filling is oozy and gooey and you feel you've just had a bite of heaven.
Its safe to say that you can eat this pie alone in one sitting, if you have a terrible sweet tooth like me. So this time I acted smart. I baked two tiny pies and one pie where I took to cut for both Charis and Sushmita's birthday at a Blogger's Table event this Friday. (I was smart you see.) The only time I ate a bit of the pie was when I was photographing it.
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You will cry for help (see those hands in the photograph, they were exactly for that) because you will feel like you've eaten something so sinful that your jeans will definitely not fit the next day. But if you share this pie you're good to go.
I've got to thank Rachael again. If it wasn't for her, I'd have missed out on this goodness.
Momofuku's Crack Pie
Ingredients
Oat Cookie Crust
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
9 tablespoons (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
5 1/2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar, divided
2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon (generous) salt
Filling
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (for dusting)
Preparation
Oat Cookie Crust
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper; coat with nonstick spray. Combine 6 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons sugar in medium bowl.
2. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Add egg; beat until pale and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
3. Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan; press out evenly to edges of pan. Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.
4. Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl; add 3 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together.
5. Transfer cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Place pie dish with crust on rimmed baking sheet.
Filling
1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and whisk until blended.
2. Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended. Pour filling into crust.
3. Bake pie 30 minutes (filling may begin to bubble). Reduce oven temperature to 325°F.
4. Continue to bake pie until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but center still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 20 minutes longer.
5. Cool pie 2 hours in pie dish on rack. Chill uncovered overnight.
DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; keep chilled.
Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into wedges and serve cold.
