I was having my morning coffee on Saturday, just reading about pie shops in San Francisco and Austin, and the pie blogs of others when I came across an article by Rene Lynch of the New York Times. In it, she discusses a pie so popular, people will pay up to $44 for this concoction called Crack Pie. Created by Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar in Manhattan, this pie truly is addiction in a pie crust, and a nice twist on the Chess Pie.
Momofuku’s Crack Pie
Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)
Cookie for crust:
2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. flour
1/8 tsp. each: baking powder, baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/3 cup light brown sugar
3 tbsp. sugar
1 egg
1 cup rolled oats
Crust:
Crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 1/2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
Filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup plus 3 tbsp. light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tsp. milk powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
3/4 cup plus 2 tsp. heavy cream
1 tsp.vanilla extract
8 egg yolks
Powdered sugar, garnish
To make the cookie for crust:
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 (I don’t have one), or in a large bowl using an electric mixer (I have one), 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-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.
To make the crust:
1. 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).
2. Divide the crust between two 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.
To make the filling:
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 (this I don’t understand and don’t know if any air was added to my mix).
4. Divide the filling evenly between the two prepared pie shells.
5. Bake the pies for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a chess 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.
I ditched the powdered sugar and went for the gooey richness. It is really delicious and the texture is nice. My wife and I tried it while it was still warm. It’ a very sweet pie that won’t hold shape unless it’s cold. Not a problem for me though:) This pie is a total diet buster. I’m going to freeze one and bring it to a potluck on Wednesday.
pieofthebeholder 