Milk Bar Pie, also known as Crack Pie, is a dessert created by the American chef Christina Tosi in 2008 while working at the New York City restaurant wd~50. It became the signature dish of Tosi's bakery, Milk Bar.
Tosi originally named the dessert Crack Pie for its addictive qualities, but changed it to Milk Bar Pie in 2019 after the name was criticized as insensitive.
The American chef Christina Tosi created Milk Bar Pie, initially known as Crack Pie, for a staff meal while working at the New York City restaurant wd~50 . [1] She described regularly making desserts from "whatever mise-en-place was left over from the previous night's service". [2] When missing ingredients one morning, she came across a recipe for chess pie in Joy of Cooking. Tosi describes chess pie as something "the old gals of yesteryear made when there was nothing to really make pie out of". [2] She substituted heavy cream for the called-for buttermilk to create a gooier consistency and corn powder and milk powder for the called-for flour to create a more interesting flavor. [2] The pie was popular at family meals. [3]
When Tosi opened Momofuku Milk Bar in 2008, she revised the Crack Pie to include an oatmeal-cookie crust. [2] It became her signature product. According to Vice , "Tosi’s Milk Bar has been synonymous with the Crack Pie". [4] [5] [6] Gourmet called it Tosi's "defining dessert". [6] Bon Appetit called it her "most buzzed-about dish". [7] New York Daily News called it "New York's favorite sugar high". [8] In December 2009, Anderson Cooper appeared on Regis and Kelly discussing the pie. [9] [5] [6] [10] [3] The New York Times called the appearance a "seminal moment". [11]
The Los Angeles Times in 2010 said the price of the pie, then $44, was "jaw-dropping"; it attributed the pie's having "taken New York City by storm" partially to the price. [9] Axios in 2022 called the dish a "cult favorite". [12] Tosi's first cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar (2011), contains a recipe for the pie. [13]
Some food writers and others have criticized naming foods including Crack Pie after addictive substances as insensitive and offensive. [4] [14] In May 2019, Devra First of the Boston Globe criticized the name in a column for making light of addiction by alluding to the addictiveness of crack cocaine. [15] The following month, Milk Bar changed the name to Milk Bar pie. [4] [14] [16]
New England cuisine is an American cuisine which originated in the New England region of the United States, and traces its roots to traditional English cuisine and Native American cuisine of the Abenaki, Narragansett, Niantic, Wabanaki, Wampanoag, and other native peoples. It also includes influences from Irish, French-Canadian, Italian, and Portuguese cuisine, among others. It is characterized by extensive use of potatoes, beans, dairy products and seafood, resulting from its historical reliance on its seaports and fishing industry. Corn, the major crop historically grown by Native American tribes in New England, continues to be grown in all New England states, primarily as sweet corn although flint corn is grown as well. It is traditionally used in hasty puddings, cornbreads and corn chowders.
A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe.
Cornmeal is a meal ground from dried corn (maize). It is a common staple food and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but it is not as fine as wheat flour can be. In Mexico, very finely ground cornmeal is referred to as corn flour. When fine cornmeal is made from maize that has been soaked in an alkaline solution, e.g., limewater, it is called masa harina, which is used for making arepas, tamales, and tortillas. Boiled cornmeal is called polenta in Italy and is also a traditional dish and bread substitute in Romania.
The tarte Tatin, named after the Tatin sisters who invented it and served it in their hotel as its signature dish, is a pastry in which the fruit is caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked. It originated in France but has spread to other countries over the years.
Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese, eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies, graham crackers, pastry, or sometimes sponge cake. Cheesecake may be baked or unbaked, and is usually refrigerated.
Key lime pie is an American dessert pie. It is made of lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk. It may be served with no topping, or with a meringue topping made from egg whites, or with whipped cream. It may be cooked in a pie crust, graham cracker crust, or no crust. The dish is named after the small Key limes, which are more aromatic than the common Persian limes, and which have yellow juice. The filling in a Key lime pie is typically yellow because of the egg yolks.
Baked Alaska, also known as Bombe Alaska, omelette norvégienne, omelette surprise, or omelette sibérienne depending on the country, is a dessert consisting of ice cream and cake topped with browned meringue. The dish is made of ice cream placed in a pie dish, lined with slices of sponge cake or Christmas pudding, and topped with meringue. After having been placed in the freezer, the entire dessert is then placed in an extremely hot oven for a brief time, long enough to firm and caramelize the meringue but not long enough to begin melting the ice cream.
Banoffee pie is a British dessert pie made from bananas, whipped cream, and a thick caramel sauce, combined either on a buttery biscuit base or one made from crumbled biscuits and butter. Some versions of the recipe include chocolate, coffee, or both.
Haupia is the Hawaiian name for a traditional coconut pudding found throughout Polynesia.
David Chang is an American restaurateur, author, podcaster, and television personality. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. In 2009, Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin stars, which the restaurant has retained each year since. In 2011, he co-founded the influential food magazine Lucky Peach, which lasted for 25 quarterly volumes into 2017. In 2018, Chang created, produced, and starred in a Netflix original series called Ugly Delicious, and through his Majordomo Media group, he has produced and/or starred in more television and podcasts. On November 29, 2020, he became the first celebrity to win the $1,000,000 top prize for his charity, Southern Smoke Foundation, and the fourteenth overall million dollar winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
Momofuku is a culinary brand established by chef David Chang in 2004 with the opening of Momofuku Noodle Bar. It includes restaurants in New York City, Toronto (defunct), Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, a bakery established by pastry chef Christina Tosi, a bar (Nikai), and a quarterly magazine.
Christina Tosi is an American chef and cookbook author. She is founder and co-owner with Momofuku of Milk Bar and serves as its chef and chief executive officer. Food & Wine magazine included her in their 2014 list of "Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink".
Unique Sweets is an American television series on Cooking Channel about various eating establishments across the United States and their signature or most popular desserts. The series features interviews with guest pastry chefs and food critics who give commentary about their favorite dessert dishes. Each episode features a different restaurant, bakery or specialty sweet shop, focusing on one theme, such as ice-cream, cakes or pies.
Milk Bar is a chain of dessert and bakery restaurants in the United States, founded by chef Christina Tosi. As of 2023, the chain has branches in New York City; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Las Vegas; and Bellevue, Washington.
Janice Wong is a Singaporean artist, chocolatier, chef, and entrepreneur. In addition to restaurants, dessert bars, and retail ventures, she is known for her edible art installations. She has won multiple awards, including being named "Asia’s Best Pastry Chef" two years in a row by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants award sponsored by S.Pellegrino. Her single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate brand, Janice Wong Pure Imagination, has retail outlets and production facilities in Singapore.
Yewande Komolafe is a Nigerian food writer, author, and food stylist. She is best known for her work introducing Nigerian food to audiences in the US. Komolafe joined The New York Times as a cooking editor in February 2021.
Will Goldfarb is a Bali, Indonesia-based American pastry chef who was named The World's Best Pastry Chef in Cacao Barry's The World's Best 50 Restaurants 2021 and considered one of the pioneers of the dessert-only tasting menu. Originally from Port Washington, New York, Goldfarb owns with his wife Maria the Ubud, Bali, Indonesia-based restaurant and cocktail bar Room4Dessert. Goldfarb is one of the four pastry chefs featured in the 2018 Netflix series Chef's Table: Pastry, along with Jordi Roca of El Celler de Can Roca, Sicilian gelato maker Corrado Assenza, and Christina Tosi of David Chang's Momofuku Milk Bar chain.
Cereal Milk is a flavor, beverage, and ingredient introduced commercially by Christina Tosi in 2006 while working at Momofuku. Cereal Milk is milk flavored with breakfast cereal.