This maple cookie recipe is one I developed while taking an online baking class with Christina Tosi of Milk Bar (I highly recommend the book, which is available on Amazon). The base for this recipe is the Milk Bar sugar cookie but modified in a few important ways to bring maple flavour into the recipe.

Ingredients

Maple flavour can get lost in a recipe, so to create maple cookies with a lot of flavour, you need to add as many maple-flavour sources as you can!

Please note that you will probably have to go shopping for this recipe and if you don't live in an area where maple products are sold year-round, you may have to do some ordering online:

• maple sugar: all the granulated sugar in a traditional sugar cookie is replaced with maple sugar, which is made from 100 % maple syrup, boiled down and crystallized. If you live outside of an area that produces maple syrup, you might have to order maple sugar from Amazon.
• maple extract: the vanilla extract was replaced with a hefty dose of imitation maple extract because maple is a delicate flavour and if you want to taste it, the extract helps boost the flavour. Your grocery should carry maple extract, but if not, get it on Amazon.
• maple flakes are incorporated into the dough but also sprinkled on top of the scoops of cookie dough, which adds a crunchy texture and a lot more maple flavour. Maple flakes are sold in most Quebec grocery stores and local markets. Outside of the area, you may have to order them from Amazon.
• chunks of maple fudge candy, made from 100 % maple syrup, is paddled into the cookie dough to add even more maple flavour. You can buy it on Amazon.
• maple leaf cookies, also called maple cream cookies are incorporated into the cookie dough as well to add a crunchy texture and more maple flavour. These cookies are sold in all grocery stores in Quebec, but outside of Quebec, you might have to order a box from Amazon.
• glucose—glucose is a syrup sold in specialty baking stores and also specialized cooking/restaurant supply stores. It helps with preservation but also to achieve the perfect bakery-style cookie texture.
• cream of tartar: this is an acidic white powder that you may have used for snickerdoodles or when whipping egg whites. It is usually sold in the spice section of your grocery store, and not necessarily the baking section.
• baking soda: you will need baking soda, not baking powder for this recipe. Please read about baking soda versus baking powder if you are not sure what the difference is
• flour—use bleached all-purpose flour, though you likely could get away with unbleached in this recipe
• butter—use unsalted butter that is softened (read about the importance of butter temperature in baking if you don't know why the texture is important). If using salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe
• eggs—use large eggs please, as specified in the recipe
• salt—use Diamond Crystal Fine Kosher salt. If replacing with table salt, use half the amount.

Please see the recipe card for the exact ingredients and quantities.

Check out my list of Milk Bar baking essentials on Amazon!

Substitutions and Variations

• Maple cream cookies, you can use homemade maple cream cookies or store-bought.
• Maple extract, I used artificial maple extract. Natural maple extract will also work.
• Glucose—the Milk Bar recipes often contain glucose. You can replace it with corn syrup (use half the amount of corn syrup because it contains more water)

I also added a little homemade bacon brittle to the cookie dough to add a little salt and smokiness to the cookies, but it's entirely optional. I ground it down in the food processor into a fine but still granular mixture. This popcorn brittle could also work here, which makes pretty awesome popcorn brittle brownies.

How to Make the Best Maple Sugar Cookies

To make these maple cookies, you will use the creaming method, where the butter and sugar are whipped for 3 minutes before adding the eggs, and then the mixture is whipped for another 8 minutes.

Do not skip this and make sure to beat the mixture at each step for the full time to incorporate a ton of air but to also properly emulsify the fats with the other ingredients.

Step 1: Combine the butter, maple sugar, and glucose in the bowl of the stand mixer (image 1) fitted with the paddle attachment (or a flex-beater attachment if you have one). Beat them until very light and fluffy before adding in the eggs and the maple extract (image 2). You will whip these ingredients together for a long time and the mixture will be very smooth, light, and creamy (image 3).

Tip: It's very important to scrape down the bowl between each addition to make sure that all the ingredients are combined and whipped together sufficiently. Use a large flexible spatula for this. If you don't spend enough time on the creaming step, your cookies may spread too much and the texture will be off. If you struggle with this, read about the reasons cookies spread.

Step 2: In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients using a Danish dough whisk (image 4) before adding the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (image 5). Stir in the dry ingredients until they are almost fully incorporated (image 6).

Step 3: Chop the maple cream cookies into small pieces (image 7) and chop the maple fudge candy into three or four small pieces as well (image 8).

Step 4: Add the chopped maple cream cookies and candies to the mixer bowl to stir them in (image 9). Then use a large scoop to portion out the dough into 100-gram scoops. You should get 14–15 portions. Place them on a sheet pan to chill for one hour or overnight (image 10).

Step 5: When it's time to bake (meaning the dough has chilled enough and you've preheated the oven), place 4 scoops of cookie dough per half-sheet pan (image 11) and bake the cookies until puffed but set on the edges (image 12). Note they will settle and deflate a little once out of the oven, but not too much.

Let the cookies cool until firm before moving them because they may break when they are hot.

Baking Tips

To make perfect bakery-style cookies every time, here are a few suggestions:

Check out my list of Milk Bar baking essentials for all the tools and specialty ingredients on Amazon USA and Amazon Canada!

FAQs About Baking With Maple

These maple cookies have a crackled finish like a typical sugar cookie (akin to these chocolate crinkle cookies and soft lemon cookies). On the first day they are baked, they are crispy/chewy on the outside, and almost fudgy on the inside. Stored in an airtight container, they soften a little and lose their crispy edges, but they still taste great! They store really well, actually.

Other Milk Bar-Inspired Recipes to Try

I am a big fan of Milk Bar, for both the recipes and interesting baking techniques. Here are a few more Milk Bar-inspired recipes to try:

If you haven't purchased it yet, I highly recommend the Milk Bar baking book, which is available on Amazon. It's a favourite of mine.

If you tried this recipe for maple cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Maple Sugar Cookies

This easy recipe for maple cookies is a play on classic sugar cookies, but incorporating maple sugar, maple extract, maple flakes, maple fudge, and even maple cream cookies to make these the best maple sugar cookies!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Chill time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 38 minutes minutes

Servings 15

Calories 373kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

• 230 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 300 grams maple sugar
• 50 grams Wilton glucose
• 2 large egg(s)
• 15 mL imitation maple extract
• 400 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 50 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 12.5 mL cream of tartar
• 10 mL baking soda
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 140 grams maple leaf cookies chopped, plus a little more for garnishing before baking
• 75 grams maple fudge candy chopped, plus a little more for garnishing before baking
• 40 grams maple flakes plus a little more for sprinkling on top

Optional

• 100 grams bacon brittle ground in food processor

Metric - US

Instructions

• Combine the butter, maple sugar, and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a spatula, scrape down the bowl every minute to make sure the ingredients combine properly.
• Add the eggs and maple extract, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes on medium–high. Stop the mixer a few times to scrape down the sides to make sure the eggs and all the ingredients mix together properly and evenly. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute.
• Add the chopped cookies, maple fudge, maple flakes, and bacon brittle (if using)
• Using a large 2-⅔ oz ice cream scoop (or a ⅓-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Garnish with extra maple flakes, cookie pieces, and maple fudge, if you have extra. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature—they will not bake properly. 
• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment-lined sheet pans. I fit about 4 on a large cookie sheet. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be very lightly browned on the edges (golden brown on the bottom).
• Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, they will keep for 1 month.

Notes

• Store these maple cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. They will soften after 24 hours making them delightfully soft and chewy, then they may begin to dry out a little. For longer storage, freeze them in a freezer bag. Defrost them overnight in the fridge.
• Substitution for glucose: the Milk Bar recipes often contain glucose. You can replace it with corn syrup (use half the amount of corn syrup because it contains more water).
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• Baking tips:
  • Scrape down the mixer bowl often because if you don't, you may end up with streaks of butter and sugar in the cookie dough that will cause textural imperfections and may cause spreading too.
  • Use a disher to create even, equal-sized cookies: invest in a large cookie scooper (also called a disher) that portions dough into roughly 90–100 gram scoops. The cookie scoop I used is by the brand Vollrath (specifically the  2-⅔ oz Stainless Steel Disher - Size 12) and you can order it from Amazon. This scoop is useful for making large cookies and also for scooping muffin batter. You can also use it for ice cream.
  • Chill the dough: The cookie dough has to chill for 1 hour before baking in order to set the butter and firm up the dough so that the cookies don't spread too much. This is very important to achieving the perfect texture and look. Remember, chilling cookie dough may reduce spreading!
  • Use a large round cookie cutter to fix the shape after baking: If the cookie edges do spread a little (especially because of the maple fudge), you can use a very large cookie cutter or the back of a spoon to gently push the edges back in towards the centre to help round out the edges. Be gentle!
• Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 325 °F (165 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.

Nutrition

Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 376mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 487IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Maple Sugar Cookies appeared first on The Bake School.

This compost pound cake recipe is from Christina Tosi's latest book, All About Cake (available from Amazon).

Remember the next level compost cookies that Christina Tosi dubbed "compost cookies"? The recipe for the compost cookies was originally printed in the Momofuku Milk Bar baking cookbook (get it on Amazon—it's one of my all-time favourite baking books!). Well, Christina Tosi is back with the pound cake version in her new book All About Cake (also available on Amazon).

The compost pound cake, as she calls it, is a simple loaf cake that is loaded with all sorts of fun ingredients and toppings. And while the compost cookies contained graham crackers, dark chocolate and white chocolate chips, potato chips, ground coffee, and oats, the pound cake version of the compost cookies contains graham crackers, dark chocolate and butterscotch chips, ground coffee, and oats.

The potato chips (and pretzels) are actually a topping that is added at the end, instead of incorporated into the batter. Not surprising because they'd probably melt and disappear into the cake if you folded them into the cake batter before baking. The same idea can be applied to coconut macaroons to make everything but the kitchen sink macaroons too!

The recipe for the compost pound cake includes both dark chocolate and butterscotch chips, as well as ground coffee, graham cracker crumbs, oats, and lots of vanilla. After baking, it's topped with potato chips and mini pretzels because this is the cake version of the compost cookies, which are the ultimate everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookies, if you ask me.

The cake is best served the day you have garnished it with potato chips and pretzels because by the next day, the toppings do become soggy. The cake will keep for a week in any case! Remember to use the best chocolate for baking when you make this cake and not all chocolate chips are created equal!

Other Milk Bar recipes to try

If you are fan of Milk Bar and Christina Tosi's style of baking, there are a few other recipes that you should try:

• Layer cakes:
  • homemade Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake, the classic confetti sprinkle birthday reinvented as a naked cake, made with imitation vanilla instead of pure vanilla extract
  • Milk Bar-inspired blackberry almond layer cake, which is twist on Milk Bar's lemon pistachio layer cake
• Cookies:
  • Milk Bar compost cookies recipe, which are a riff on the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookies
• Cake truffles that you can make with Milk Bar cake scraps:
  • Milk Bar birthday cake truffles which you make with the leftover cake scraps after making the homemade Milk Bar birthday cake recipe
• Pie:
  • Milk Bar crack pie recipe, which is a sweet-salty sugar pie with an oatmeal cookie crust

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Compost Pound Cake

This compost pound cake recipe by Christina Tosi is based on the infamous Milk Bar compost cookies. This pound cake is moist and loaded with oats, graham cracker crumbs, ground coffee, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips, and topped with potato chips and pretzels!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 10

Calories 437kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Loaf pan
• Braun mixer
• OXO balloon whisk
• GIR spatula

Ingredients

• 90 grams unsalted butter melted
• 90 grams buttermilk (1 % fat)
• 30 grams canola oil
• 12.5 mL pure vanilla extract
• 3 large egg(s)
• 240 grams cake flour
• 180 grams granulated sugar
• 30 grams light brown sugar
• 30 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 15 mL ground coffee beans
• 5 mL baking powder
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 75 grams mini chocolate chips
• 50 grams butterscotch chips
• 50 grams graham cracker crumbs
• 10 grams bleached all-purpose flour

Toppings

• 65 grams mini chocolate chips
• 2.5 mL canola oil
• 25 grams potato chips
• 25 grams mini pretzels

Metric - US

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 350°F (175 °C). Grease and flour a 1-pound loaf pan. I used the Gold OXO Good Grips Non-Stick Pro Loaf Pan, which is recommended by Christina Tosi in the intro of her book (available on Amazon). I also lined the bottom with a rectangle of parchment (I call that insurance).
• Whisk the melted butter, buttermilk, 30 grams (3 tablespoons) oil, vanilla extract, and eggs together in a large bowl.
• Whisk the cake flour, sugar, brown sugar, oats, coffee, baking powder, and salt together in a separate large bowl.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir to combine. If the batter looks lumpy, use a whisk to break up all the lumps.
• In a separate bowl, toss the 75 grams (⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon) chocolate chips, 50 grams (¼ cup) butterscotch chips, and graham cracker crumbles, with the AP flour. (Tossing them in flour first helps to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake while it bakes.)
• Pour half of the compost batter into the loaf pan, then fold the remaining batter into the bowl with the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and graham cracker crumbles. Pour this mixture on top of the batter in the loaf pan.
• Bake until the cake rises and puffs, about 70 minutes. At 60 minutes, tap the top of the cake with your fingertips: The cake should bounce back and the center should no longer be jiggly. If it doesn’t pass this test, leave the cake in the oven for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for 45 minutes, then run a small butter knife or offset spatula between the edge of the cake and the pan to help release the cake from the pan. Invert the pan onto a wire rack to fully release the cake. Turn the cake right side up and let it cool completely.
• Melt the 65 grams (⅓ cup + 1 teaspoon) mini chocolate chips or butterscotch chips and 2.5 grams (½ teaspoon) of oil in the microwave in 30-second increments. 
• Decorate the top of the compost pound cake by dipping the potato chips and pretzels, broken up if desired, in the melted chocolate or butterscotch, using each as a glue to stick the chips and pretzels to the top. Put the cake in the fridge and let the chocolate harden and cool for 5 minutes, then dig in!
• The cake will keep in the refrigerator, wrapped, for up to 1 week. Let the refrigerated cake sit at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

Notes

• This recipe is from All About Cake by Christina Tosi (available on Amazon)
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• I used the Gold OXO Good Grips Non-Stick Pro Loaf Pan, which is recommended by Christina Tosi in the intro of her book (available on Amazon). I prefer the shape of this pan to my other loaf pans and the non-stick surface is really helpful when it comes time to unmold the cake. I highly recommend the OXO loaf pan.
• For this recipe, you can use regular Nestlé butterscotch morsels (Amazon). I wasn't able to find mini butterscotch chips, as the recipe suggested.

Nutrition

Calories: 437kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 369mg | Potassium: 169mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 35g | Vitamin A: 340IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 69mg | Iron: 1.2mg

Please note this post contains affiliate links for Amazon and Le Creuset. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

Recipe shared with permission from Appetite by Random House. 

The post Christina Tosi's compost pound cake appeared first on The Bake School.

What is a banana split?

A banana split is a classic American ice cream dessert where a banana is split in half, lengthwise, then topped with three scoops of ice cream, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. The dessert is drizzled with chocolate fudge sauce, strawberry sauce, or even pineapple topping, and then garnished with dollops of whipped cream, maraschino cherries, chopped nuts, and even sprinkles.

Ways to turn it into a layer cake

There are so many ways you can translate a banana split into a layer cake. The goal is to pinpoint the key flavours of the classic dessert in order to incorporate them into a layer cake

Here are a few ideas:

• For the cake layers, you can use vanilla cake, banana cake, chocolate cake, or even strawberry and/or cherry cake.
• For the fillings, you can use:
  • sliced bananas and incorporate them as is, or sauté them in butter and brown sugar to soften them.
  • chocolate fudge sauce or salted caramel sauce
  • fruit fillings, like strawberry jam or pineapple compote
• For the frosting, you can flavour it with vanilla extract or go with bolder flavours, incorporating nut butter or even freeze-dried berries.
• For the toppings, chopped nuts or nut crunch work well, as do Milk Bar milk crumbs or berry milk crumbs, and maraschino cherries, the classic topping for most ice cream sundaes and desserts.

After testing out a few combinations with these components, I felt like the combination that best represented the banana split is a vanilla cake with a cherry-pomegranate soak, sautéed bananas, peanut crunch, chocolate fudge sauce, cherry-strawberry frosting, topped with maraschino cherries.

Most of the components for this layer cake are adapted from either Christina Tosi's first book Milk Bar, available on Amazon, or her third book All About Cake, also available on Amazon. I highly recommend both books.

The layers of cake are cut out from a large vanilla sponge sheet cake. This is the secret to achieving the flawless "naked cake" look with no golden brown edges to be seen. Tosi isn't a fan of the golden edges.

The bottom layer of the cake is actually made from cake scraps, patched together and pressed gently to create the base that you build on.

This method will still leave you with leftover cake. Save the cake scraps and make cake truffles, using the same method as the birthday cake truffles.

Special ingredients you need to bake Milk Bar recipes

• liquid glucose: you may find it at Bulk Barn or your local bulk ingredients store, or restaurant/baking supply stores in your area. If not, you can buy Wilton brand glucose from Amazon.
• cake flour: cake flour has a lower protein content and higher starch content than regular all-purpose, which will help you achieve a fluffier, more tender cake. This type of flour is better at absorbing more liquid. You can find it on Amazon if your grocery store doesn't have it.
• grapeseed oil: grapeseed oil is a flavourless oil. If you don't want to buy grapeseed oil, Tosi recommends using canola oil. If you feel like buying grapeseed oil, you can buy it on Amazon. I use canola oil because it's cheaper, so feel free to swap them!
• pailleté feuilletine from Cacao Barry is what gives the nut crunches that crispy light texture. You can buy it on Amazon, but I used Gavottes crispy crêpe cookies, and they worked perfectly. I got them at the grocery store from the cookie aisle, but you may have to order them from Amazon.
• freeze-dried fruit powders, cherry and strawberry for this recipe—you can buy whole freeze-dried cherries on Amazon and whole freeze-dried strawberries on Amazon, and then grind them down in the food processor into a fine powder.

Special equipment and tools to make Milk Bar layer cake recipes

• stand mixer: Christina Tosi has a very specific way of mixing cake batters and they require a ton of beating. Unfortunately, this means using a hand-held electric mixer is a terrible option for this recipe (as is a wooden spoon for mixing by hand). Your best bet is to use a KitchenAid Artisan 5 quart mixer or their 6 quart professional mixer. If you don't have one and you want to bake more, I highly recommend getting one on Amazon.
• 6-inch cake ring: I actually used the ring of a 6-inch springform pan from Amazon to build my cake, but it was not ideal because of the rim/seam on the springform which made it extra hard to unmold. Buy a cake ring from Amazon if you can.
• acetate: when I made this cake, I didn't know where to buy acetate, so I used acetate sheets from an office supply store. No clue if it's food grade. Don't do that. Buy a roll of acetate from Amazon.
• mini offset spatula: I love my mini offset spatula from Ateco and I use it all the time when I am making cakes. You can buy it on Amazon! Tosi actually uses a spoon that she's bent to assemble cakes. That's another option if you don't mind bending one of your spoons.
• quarter sheet pans with rims: I like these Nordic Ware quarter sheet pans on Amazon, which are like the ones Tosi recommends. I actually bake the sheet cakes in a 10x15 pan from Chicago Metallic. The darker finish of this line of baking pans means you have to watch the baking time because cakes brown faster in darker pans

If you are a fan of Milk Bar's baked goods, here are some other Milk Bar recipes to explore:

How to store this cake

Given this banana split layer cake is made with fruit filling, it's best to store it in the fridge. If you've cut into the cake, just cover the cut edges with pieces of parchment to prevent them from drying out. Place the cake in the fridge until the frosting is firm and cold, then cover the whole thing with aluminum foil. You can store this cake for up to a week, or freeze slices for later.

For a detailed explanation, read about how to store cake.

Notes on this recipe

For this three-layer banana split cake recipe, it's very important to follow the directions, especially when it comes to the mixing times for the cake batter and the frosting.

The cake batter is high in fat and sugar, and you need to beat it for several minutes at specific stages in order for the ingredients to emulsify properly. Otherwise, your cake may be heavy or greasy.

The same goes for the frosting, which contains a higher amount of butter than most American buttercream frostings. Make sure to beat the butter and the sugar for a long time to lighten the mixture, incorporate a ton of air and improve its taste and mouthfeel of it.

For the filling components, you might have a little leftover chocolate fudge sauce, for example. Save it in the fridge to top your next bowl of ice cream! All you have to do is warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute to warm it up so that you can use it.

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Banana Split Cake

Learn how to make a banana split cake from vanilla sponge cake stacked with chocolate fudge sauce, banana compote, and peanut crunch with this layer cake recipe.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 hours hours

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Freeze time 3 hours hours

Total Time 8 hours hours 45 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 1143kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO kitchen scale
• 6-quart KitchenAid Pro mixer
• 10x15 sheet pan
• Food processor
• Acetate
• 6-inch cake ring

Ingredients

Vanilla sponge sheet cake

• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 250 grams granulated sugar
• 50 grams light brown sugar
• 3 large egg(s)
• 110 grams buttermilk (1 % fat)
• 75 grams canola oil
• 15 mL pure vanilla extract
• 185 grams cake flour
• 5 mL baking powder
• 5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Chocolate fudge sauce

• 60 grams dark chocolate (70 % cocoa content)
• 36 grams Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 200 grams Wilton glucose
• 50 grams granulated sugar
• 110 grams whipping cream (35 % fat)

Peanut crunch

• 125 grams chopped toasted peanuts
• 40 grams canola oil
• 20 grams light brown sugar
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 60 grams feuilletine

Cherry frosting

• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 95 grams icing sugar for a sweeter frosting, use a little more
• 10 grams freeze-dried cherries more or less depending on how much flavour you want
• 5 grams freeze-dried strawberries more or less depending on how much flavour you want

Banana compote

• 30 grams unsalted butter
• 60 mL light brown sugar
• 4 ripe banana(s) sliced

Soak

• 30 grams cherry pomegranate juice
• 30 grams maraschino cherry syrup strained from a jar of maraschino cherries

Toppings

• 8 maraschino cherries

Metric - US

Instructions

Vanilla sponge sheet cake

• Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
• Combine unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar in the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Cream together on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, then increase speed and mix on medium–high again for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
• On low speed, stream in buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Continue mixing for 4 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. Be patient and don't rush the process! It takes a long time to force so much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn't want to make room for the liquid.
• Stop the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
• With the mixture on low speed, add cake flour, baking powder, and kosher salt. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together and any remnants of dry ingredients have been incorporated. BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVERMIX. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl — if you see any lumps of cake flour in there while you're scraping, mix for another 45 seconds.
• Prepare a quarter sheet pan by generously spraying with cooking oil and line with parchment. Lightly spray the parchment as well.
• Using a rubber spatula, transfer the cake batter to the sheet pan, spreading the cake batter in an even layer in the pan. Give the bottom of your sheet pan a tap on the countertop to even out the layer.
• Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain buttery and dense. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger: the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should no longer be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven for an extra 3 to 5 minutes if it doesn’t pass these tests.
• Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire cooling rack. The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.

Chocolate fudge sauce

• Combine the chocolate, cocoa powder, and salt in medium bowl.
• Combine the glucose, molasses, sugar, and heavy cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir intermittently while bringing to a boil over high heat. The moment it boils, pour it into the bowl holding the chocolate. Let sit for 1 full minute.
• Slowly, slowly begin to whisk the mixture. then continue, increasingly the vigour of your whisking every 30 seconds, until the mixture is glossy and silky-smooth. This will take 2 to 4 minutes, depending on your speed and strength. You can use this sauce at this point or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Peanut crunch

• Purée the chopped roasted peanuts with the oil, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until it's the consistency of wet sand.
• Transfer to a bowl and stir in the pailleté feuilletine (or crushed Gavottes cookies). Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Cherry frosting

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and icing sugar for 5 minutes on medium–high until very light and fluffy.
• Grind the freeze-dried cherries and strawberries together in a food processor until you get a fine powder.
• Add the powder to the frosting, and stir on low to combine. Use the frosting immediately.

Banana compote

• In a non-stick fry pan, melt the butter. Add the brown sugar and sliced bananas and stir.
• Bring the mixture up to a simmer, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often, until the bananas are soft, but still hold their shape. The goal is to form a chunky compote while removing some of the moisture from the bananas.

Soak

• Combine the juice with the maraschino cherry syrup. Stir well to mix them together. Use immediately.

To assemble

• Prepare a 6-inch (15.25 cm) cake ring (from Amazon) by placing it on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, lining the inside of the ring with a 20-inch (50.8 cm) long piece of acetate (also on Amazon).
• Cut out two 6-inch (15.25 cm) circles of cake, and two half circles. Fit the two half circles of cake at the bottom of the acetate-lined ring, filling any gaps with the leftover cake scraps.
• Brush the cake with half the soak (~30 grams), then smooth on half of banana compote (roughly ⅔ cup).
• Sprinkle one third of the peanut crunch over the compote. Dollop with half of the warmed chocolate fudge sauce frosting, then gently spread into an even layer.
• Gently fit a second strip of acetate between the first acetate strip and the ring to give your mold more height. Then, place the next layer of cake over the chocolate sauce, and repeat the previous step by brushing with soak, smoothing with compote, sprinkling with peanut crunch, then dolloping/smoothing with warm chocolate sauce.
• Place the final layer over top, pressing slightly. Spread with the frosting and sprinkle with the rest of the crunch.
• Freeze for a few hours to set, if not overnight.
• On the day you are serving the cake, pop the frozen cake out of the ring, placing it on a cake stand. Pull off the strips of acetate and let the cake defrost for about 3–6 hours in the fridge before serving.

Notes

• I highly recommend to use a kitchen scale to weigh out ingredients because the conversions for some to volume/cups is approximate, which is not ideal! Please weigh your ingredients! 
• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• If the fudge sauce is too thick to spread, microwave it for 30 seconds to loosen it up. I highly recommend this because otherwise, the fudge sauce will pull up the crunch layer and it will be hard to achieve the distinct layers we are looking for!
• If you can't find pailleté feuilletine, you can replace it with crushed "Gavottes" which are a thin crispy rolled crêpe cookie from France, which we can find in grocery stores in Quebec. This is what I used to make the peanut crunch.
• The banana compote may darken with time from the fruit's exposure to air. This is a natural browning process and nothing to worry about. A splash of lemon juice may help preserve the colour, temporarily. 
• For the dark chocolate, I used Cacao Barry Ocoa 70 % dark chocolate.

Nutrition

Calories: 1143kcal | Carbohydrates: 144g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 155mg | Sodium: 623mg | Potassium: 643mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 94g | Vitamin A: 1214IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Banana split cake appeared first on The Bake School.

What is the Milk Bar pie?

The Milk Bar pie is a play on the classic American chess pie with an egg yolk-thickened sweet filling. Where I live, we don't have chess pies and I think the closest relative would be certain sugar pies that are thickened with eggs. My all-time favourite sugar pie is maple pie, like this gorgeous maple syrup pie that is a real treat if you are a fan of maple syrup.

Milk Bar pie was formerly called Crack pie. It underwent a name change in 2019. The former name came from the fact that once you start eating this pie, you can't stop. The name was insensitive and so Milk Bar renamed their famous pie to the Milk Bar pie. The recipe stayed the same.

This pie is a bestseller at Milk Bar, along with the Milk Bar birthday cake, the birthday cake truffles, and the compost cookies (which have since been transformed into a compost pound cake too).

The components

Milk Bar pie has two components:

1. an oat cookie crumb crust made from a giant homemade oat cookie
2. a gooey sweet filling containing brown sugar, granulated sugar, powdered milk, cream, egg yolks, milk powder, and corn powder.

Special ingredients

This recipe includes the usual baking ingredients, butter, sugars, flour, cream, salt, and chemical leaveners, but if you want to make this pie, you will also need to shop for special ingredients you most certainly don't have in your pantry:

• milk powder or powdered milk, which is a powder made from dehydrated milk. For this recipe, fat-free or low-fat milk powder works perfectly. You can purchase milk powder from nuts.com
• corn powder, which is ground freeze-dried corn. You can often find freeze-dried corn at camping stores or outdoor recreation stores. None in my area had it so I ordered it from nuts.com.

While it may seem annoying to have to purchase special ingredients to make this pie, you will be able to use milk powder and corn powder in other recipes. In fact, most Milk Bar recipes are made with milk powder and you can use the corn powder to make Milk Bar's famous corn cookies!

How to make the Milk Bar pie at home

Making crack pie at home takes a fair bit of time because the recipe has a lot of steps.

1. Make one giant oat cookie. I baked the giant cookie til it was golden and crispy on the edges, but still a little soft in the middle.  Then you cool the cookie and crumble it into oat cookie crumbs. This is a lot like if you were to first make a giant homemade graham cracker from scratch, which you then crumble into graham cracker crumbs to make a crust.
2. Transform it into an oat cookie crust. Combine the cookie crumbs with butter, and press them into the pie plate to make the oat crust.
3. Make the pie filling by whisking together all the ingredients. Pour it into the crust.
4. Bake the pie. The pie filling puffs up quite a bit in the oven. The crust becomes a deep golden colour
5. Cool the pie for a couple of hours on a cooling rack, then overnight in the freezer.
6. Unmould the pie once it's frozen. Serve cold.

This crack pie recipe makes a pie that is wonderfully sweet, and not for the faint of heart. If you are addicted to sugar like a crack addict is addicted to crack, this pie is definitely for you.

Frequently asked questions

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Milk Bar Pie (Formerly Crack Pie)

The Milk Bar pie (formerly Crack pie) is similar to a chess pie or a sugar pie, made with an oat cookie crust and a filling containing brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk powder, corn powder, cream, and egg yolks. Crack pie is a bestseller at Milk Bar!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 7 minutes minutes

Chill time 8 hours hours

Total Time 1 hour hour 52 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 451kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Metal pie plate
• GIR spatula
• OXO balloon whisk
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer

Ingredients

Oat cookie

• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 75 grams light brown sugar divided
• 40 grams granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk(s)
• 120 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 80 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 0.625 mL baking powder
• 1 pinch baking soda

Oat cookie crumb crust

• 55 grams unsalted butter melted
• 15 grams light brown sugar
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

Molk Bar pie filling

• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 100 grams light brown sugar
• 12 grams corn powder (finely ground freeze-dried corn)
• 10 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 115 grams unsalted butter melted, cooled slightly
• 80 grams whipping cream (35 % fat)
• 4 large egg yolk(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract

Metric - US

Instructions

Giant oat cookie

• Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and the sugars on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until light, fluffy, and pale, occasionally scraping down sides of the bowl because small amounts will cling to the sides.
• Add egg yolk and beat until pale and fluffy on medium–high for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl again and mix more if needed.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour oats, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the dry mixture to the mixer bowl and stir it in on low speed until it disappears and a dough forms.
• Turn oat mixture out onto prepared baking pan and press out evenly to a ¼" thickness.
• Bake until light golden on top, 17 to 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to rack and cool cookie completely.

Oat cookie crust

• Note this makes enough crust for 2 pies.
• Break up the cooled oat cookie into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse the cookie to form crumbs, similar to wet sand.
• Transfer the mixture to a big bowl and add the sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter, sugar, and salt. Make sure that the crumb crust holds together when pinched.
• Transfer half the cookie crust mixture to 9-inch-diameter shallow pie plate (Note you may want to line the bottom of a pan with a circle of parchment to help you unmould the pie—I did not do this but it might make your life easier). Using fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish. Set aside.
• The second half of oat cookie crust can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 2 weeks or frozen until you are ready to use it. If you have an extra pie plate, you could even press it into the pan before freezing so all you will need to do is make the filling and bake it later!

Milk Bar pie filling and assembly

• Preheat to 350°F (175 °C). Note that it's important to mix the filling on the lowest speed setting to avoid incorporating air, which will lead to pockets that will expand and collapse, leading to a less pretty finish.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn powder, milk powder, and salt on the lowest speed setting.
• Add the melted butter and stir on low for 2 minutes until it's evenly mixed. Then add the egg yolks, one at a time, while mixing on low. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
• Drizzle in the cream and the vanilla on low for 2 minutes. You should have a golden yellow, thick creamy filling that is not at all aerated.
• Pour filling into crust. Bake pie 15 minutes (filling may begin to brown—that's normal).
• Reduce oven temperature to 325°F (165 °C). Continue to bake pie until filling is browned all over top and set around edges but centre still moves slightly when pie dish is gently shaken, about 15 minutes longer. 
• Cool pie 2 hours on a rack. Transfer to freezer and chill uncovered overnight. 
• Unmould the frozen pie and slice into 8 equal pieces. Serve cold dusted with a little powdered sugar. To unmould the pie, use a small offset spatula to release the edges from the plate. If the pie is truly stuck in the pan, you may have to slice it in the pan to be able to unmould it piece-by-piece.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• DO AHEAD: Can be made ahead and kept in the freezer.
• This Crack Pie recipe is adapted from Christina Tosi's Milk Bar cookbook, available on Amazon.

Nutrition

Calories: 451kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 176mg | Sodium: 208mg | Potassium: 112mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 40g | Vitamin A: 929IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg

This recipe and many other recipes have been compiled in the Milk Bar cookbook available on Amazon.

The post Milk Bar pie (formerly Crack pie) appeared first on The Bake School.

Key components to make this recipe

This orange pie recipe has several sub-recipes, which can make it feel intimidating. Actually, each sub-recipe is easy enough on its own. Let's break down this pie into the key components:

• Crumb crust: the orange pie is made with a saltine crust, which is similar to a graham cracker crumb crust, made from crushed crackers, melted butter, sugar, and salt.
• Orange curd: the orange flavour in the filling comes from an orange curd. This filling is very similar to the filling I used for these easy lemon bars, with the addition of gelatin to ensure the perfect set for slicing and serving.
• Liquid cheesecake filling: there's a baked cheesecake filling tucked underneath the orange curd. The cheesecake layer is pre-baked so that you can fill the pie crust with it without having to bake it again.
• Orange marmalade glaze: the glaze on top of the pie is straight orange marmalade, brushed on before chilling the pie.

To make this pie, I recommend getting the fillings made so that they can cool down enough to fill the pie.

Crunchy saltine crust

The saltine crust recipe for this pie yields a very sturdy, crunchy saltine crust that is thick and salty-sweet. If you prefer a more crumbly crumb crust, you will have to play with the ratio of ingredients in the recipe.

This is the same crust as for the Milk Bar grapefruit pie. The saltine crust can be replaced with a graham cracker crust, either homemade or store-bought, if you prefer.

I brushed the baked saltine crust with melted white chocolate to seal it before filling the pie. The French pastry term for this is "chablonner," where melted chocolate is brushed on the inside of baked tart shells before filling.

Liquid cheesecake

The liquid cheesecake comes from Christina Tosi's first Milk Bar book (available on Amazon). I followed the recipe pretty closely except for the baking instructions: Tosi recommends baking in a 6x6-inch square baking pan lined with plastic wrap.

Knowing home bakers might not have the same heat-resistant plastic wrap that Tosi uses in her commercial kitchens, and also because the 6x6 pan is very uncommon in home kitchens, I baked the filling in a greased 9x5-inch loaf pan. This worked out perfectly.

Another option might be a glass square pan, but given that glass is slower to heat up, but also retains heat longer, this can be risky in that the filling will take longer to bake, but also may overbake after pulling it from the oven.

The key to this filling is to let the cheesecake bake long enough for it to be almost cooked through, but still raw and very jiggly in the middle. Mine took about 35 minutes to bake at 300 ºF in a loaf pan.

Orange curd filling

Gelatin to ensure the perfect set

We know from making lemon curd and lemon bars that if you cook your fruit curd fillings to roughly 80 ºC, that the curd will set firm enough that you can use it as a filling and baked goods with lemon curd will slice cleanly if properly chilled.

To further stabilize the filling, you can add gelatin to the curd when it's still warm. The gelatin melts into the curd and completely disappears, but also provides stability and makes the filling more firm so that the pie slices perfectly.

When working with gelatin, remember that gelatin melts around body temperature, roughly 40 ºC. This means a few things:

1. the curd has to be warm enough to melt the gelatin so that it mixes in completely and disappears
2. the gelatin will not melt if the curd is cold so make sure to add it when the curd is warm
3. the gelatin breaks down with heat, so take your pot off the heat and add the gelatin to the curd in a blender, thus ensuring that it won't degrade from the heat of the stove.
4. because gelatin melts around 40 ºC, this means that the pie should be kept cold so that you can serve it without worrying that the gelatin will melt.

Types of gelatin

Gelatin is sold in two forms: as a gelatin powder and as gelatin sheets (also called leaf gelatin). Where I live, the powder form is sold in all grocery stores and the brand is Knox. Most pastry chefs use gelatin sheets, and they are graded as silver or gold, referring to their power to gel. The gold gelatin sheets are more powerful than the silver gelatin sheets. My local market sells Dr. Oetker gelatin sheets and that's what I used for this recipe. You can order them from Amazon.

Whether you use gelatin powder or sheets is entirely up to you, but they are used in different ways:

• to use gelatin sheets, place the sheet(s) in cold water so that they are completely covered. Let soften for about 5 minutes, then drain and gently squeeze out the excess water, then add the softened gelatin sheets to hot curd. 1 sheet will gel 2 cups (500mL) of liquid if you are using the Dr. Oetker sheets as I did.
• to use powder gelatin, sprinkle 1 pouch of Knox® Unflavoured Gelatine over ¼ cup (60mL) cold liquid in a small bowl. Let stand for 1 minute. Then mix it in with your hot curd. For Knox gelatin, 1 pouch is about 2 ½ teaspoons (7g) of unflavoured gelatine. Each pouch will gel 2 cups (500mL) of liquid if using Knox® gelatin.

With both types of gelatin, it's very important to first soften the gelatin in cold water before mixing it with the hot mixture you want to gel.

Pie glaze

Orange marmalade is brushed on top of the curd, using the back of a spoon. It acts as a glaze not only to provide shine but also to add a ton of bittersweet orange flavour to this pie, it also keeps the curd from drying out on top, which is a problem with curds. The orange marmalade seals the curd and protects it so that you can store the pie for several days or even freeze it, without worrying that the curd will dry out or become unstable.

This step prevents the crust from getting soggy. I used it for these Earl Grey panna cotta tarts because the panna cotta filling is quite wet and I wanted to stop the pastry from absorbing all that liquid before the filling sets. To be honest, the saltine crust is so sturdy, I don't think a little moisture from the filling would hurt it.

If you like Milk Bar recipes, this orange pie is a fun variation of them. If you want to try other Milk Bar recipes, here are a few great options:

• Milk Bar birthday cake
• Blackberry almond cake
• Milk Bar birthday cake truffles
• Milk Bar pie
• Compost pound cake
• Compost cookies

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Orange Pie

Learn how to make an orange pie made with a saltine crust, cheesecake, and orange curd filling, topped with orange marmalade glaze.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 2 hours hours

Cook Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Chill time 3 hours hours

Total Time 6 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 593kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Metal pie plate
• Mini offset

Ingredients

Orange curd

• 1 gelatin sheet
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 85 grams frozen orange juice concentrate defrosted and undiluted
• 45 grams fresh lemon juice
• 15 mL orange zest
• 4 large egg yolk(s)
• 1 large egg(s)
• 115 grams unsalted butter cold, cut into cubes

Liquid cheesecake

• 250 grams Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular)
• 150 grams granulated sugar
• 15 mL cornstarch
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 30 mL whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 1 large egg(s)

Saltine crust

• 110 grams saltine crackers 1 sleeve
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 20 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 100 grams unsalted butter melted
• 50 grams white chocolate

Glaze

• 125 mL orange marmalade room temperature or warm to make sure it's soft enough to spread

Metric - US

Instructions

Orange curd

• In a small bowl, place the gelatin sheet. Top with cold water and let soak, immersed, for about 5 minutes, while you prepare the curd.
• In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, defrosted orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, orange zest, and eggs.
• Set the saucepan on low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and reaches about 80 °C.
• Take the pan immediately off the heat and transfer the curd to a blender. Add the butter.
• Drain and squeeze the softened gelatin sheets to remove the water. Add it to the blender. Blend the mixture until it is homogenous. The butter should have melted and mixed in.
• Transfer to a container and refrigerate for a few hours while you make the other components.

Liquid cheesecake

• Preheat the oven to 300 °F (150 °C). Grease a 9x5 inch (23x12.7 cm) loaf pan.
• In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese on low until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and mix until it is completely incorporated and smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
• In a small bowl, gently whisk together the cornstarch and salt. Add the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the egg mixture to the cream cheese. Beat until the mixture is smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes on medium–low. Scrape down the sides of the bowl every minute to make sure all the ingredients are properly mixed in.
• Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place the pan in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, gently shake the pan: The outside edges should be firm and the centre loosely set. If the cheesecake has not reached that consistency, allow it to cook for an additional 15 minutes. Mine took 35 minutes total to achieve set edges with a soft middle.
• Remove the cheesecake from the oven, set aside to cool completely before using. Transfer to a large piping bag to make it easier to fill the pie later.
• Keep the oven at 300 °F (150 °C) for the crust.

Saltine crust

• Place the crackers in a medium bowl. Crush them with your hands to form crumbs with a little texture. Add the milk powder, sugar and salt, and toss to mix.
• Add the butter and toss to coat. As you toss, the butter will act as glue, binding the dry ingredients to the cracker pieces and creating small clusters.
• Take a 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate and line the bottom with a round of parchment (to make serving easier). Dump the cracker mixture into the plate.
• Press the cracker crunch into the sides and bottom of the pie plate. Using your fingers and the palms of your hands, press in firmly, making sure to cover the bottom and sides evenly and completely.
• Put the pie crust on a sheet pan and bake for up to 20 minutes (mine took 18 minutes). Cool the crust completely, then brush gently with melted white chocolate.

Assembly

• Now that all your components are ready and have cooled completely, you are ready to assemble the pie.
• Pipe the liquid cheesecake in the bottom of the pie crust in an even layer. Smooth with an offset spatula.
• Whisk the curd to loosen it, then dollop it over the cheesecake layer. Smooth with an offset spatula.
• Dollop the orange marmalade over the curd and smooth it with the back of a spoon, gently to not disturb the curd layer.
• Chill the pie for a few hours in the freezer to set the layer and make unmoulding easier.
• To serve, take the pie out of the freezer and use a knife or an offset spatula to separate the edges of the crust from the pan. This way you should be able to lift the entire pie out of the pan to cut it.
• Cut the pie into 8 pieces. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• If you do not want to use the liquid cheesecake filling, you can skip it and double the orange curd, which will yield the perfect amount to fill your pie crust.

Nutrition

Calories: 593kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 206mg | Sodium: 535mg | Potassium: 249mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 64g | Vitamin A: 1089IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 1mg

The post Orange pie appeared first on The Bake School.

This recipe has a lot of steps but isn't too difficult. Spread out the work over a couple of days, and you'll be fine!

The Milk Bar birthday cake from Christina Tosi's new book Milk Bar available on Amazon is THE celebration birthday cake everybody wants to make and eat.

Christina Tosi is the genius behind the Milk Bar pie, compost cookies, compost pound cake, among others. She is one to follow for nostalgic, yet innovative baked goods.

I think this is the perfect cake to say goodbye to my twenties, and to greet my thirties. It's fun, and maybe a little whimsical, full of brightly coloured sprinkles, and birthday cake crumbs. I'd suggest you make an extra batch of the Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake crumbs so you can make these birthday cake truffles with the cake scraps. Just sayin'.

Everything you will need to make the Christina Tosi's Milk Bar birthday cake

Christina Tosi's birthday cake recipe, like most of her layer cakes, requires a lot of special ingredients and tools that most of us home bakers don't have. It's a fact. Before you make the  Milk Bar birthday cake, you will most likely need to buy the following items.

Special ingredients to make the Milk Bar birthday cake

• liquid glucose: you may find it at Bulk Barn or your local bulk ingredients store, or restaurant/baking supply stores in your area. If not, you can Wilton brand glucose from Amazon.
• citric acid: you may find it at Bulk Barn or your local bulk ingredients store. If not, you can order citric acid from Amazon.
• rainbow jimmies: the sprinkles used for this cake recipe are rainbow jimmies, which kind of look like tiny coloured grains of rice. Your grocery store will most likely have rainbow jimmies that you can buy. If not, order them on Amazon.
• cake and pastry flour: cake and pastry flour has a lower protein content than regular all-purpose, which will help you achieve a fluffier, more tender cake. You can find it on Amazon if your grocery store doesn't have it.
• grapeseed oil: grapeseed oil is a flavourless oil. If you don't want to buy grapeseed oil, Tosi recommends using canola oil. If you feel like buying grapeseed oil, you can buy it on Amazon.
• imitation vanilla: Christina Tosi recommends using artificial or imitation vanilla for many of her recipes because imitation vanilla tends to have a more pronounced vanilla flavour that is very nostalgic. Use a clear imitation vanilla extract if you can find it. You can also buy it on Amazon. You can also use real vanilla extract if you prefer, but the flavour won't be the same.

Special equipment to make the Milk Bar birthday cake:

• stand mixer: Christina Tosi has a very specific way of mixing cake batters and they require a ton of beating. Unfortunately, this means using a hand-held electric mixer is a terrible option for this recipe (as is a wooden spoon for mixing by hand). Your best bet is to use a KitchenAid Artisan 5-quart mixer. If you don't have one and you want to bake more, I highly recommend getting one on Amazon.
• 6-inch cake ring: I actually used the ring of a 6-inch springform pan from Amazon to build my cake, but it was not ideal because of the rim/seam on the springform which made it extra hard to unmold. Buy a cake ring from Amazon if you can.
• acetate: when I made this cake, I didn't know where to buy acetate, so I used acetate sheets from an office supply store. No clue if it's food grade. Don't do that. Buy a roll of acetate from Amazon.
• mini offset spatula: I love my mini offset spatula from Ateco and I use it all the time when I am making cakes. You can buy it on Amazon! Tosi actually uses a spoon that she's bent to assemble cakes. That's another option if you don't mind bending one of your spoons.
• quarter sheet pans with rims: I like these Nordic Ware quarter sheet pans on Amazon.

The recipe for the Milk Bar birthday cake is brilliant and inspiring, but if you want to bake this cake (or anything from the Momofuku Milk Bar book), you will need to start baking ahead of time. Here are a few important things to note before you get started:

• How long does it take to make the Milk Bar birthday cake? I made this cake a day ahead, and it took me about half a day to make, so it's really not more time-consuming than any other cake recipe, once you have all the ingredients and equipment
• Can you make the Milk Bar birthday cake ahead? Christina Tosi's layer cakes, like the Milk Bar birthday cake, are made ahead and this is an integral part of the process. So you absolutely can make this cake ahead of time. I froze the assembled cake overnight to set the layers, then unmolded it and placed it on a cake stand in the fridge for san entire day to slowly defrost.
• When you cut into it, use a giant chef's knife to make quick, clean slices, otherwise, you will end up with a mess as the cake crumbs will tear through the delicate cake.

How to store this cake

Given this sprinkle birthday cake is made with cream cheese frosting, it's best to store it in the fridge. If you've cut into the cake, just cover the cut edges with pieces of parchment to prevent them from drying out. Place the cake in the fridge until the frosting is firm and cold, then cover the whole thing with aluminum foil. You can store this cake for up to a week, or freeze slices for later.

For a detailed explanation, read about how to store cake.

The instructions are not identical to those in the book because there are certain things that I do differently. Still, if you love making cakes, buy the book on Amazon. It's a great investment full of insight and tips. If you want to try another Momofuku Milk Bar style cake, try this gorgeous blackberry almond cake recipe.

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Homemade Milk Bar Birthday Cake

Make the famous Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake from Christina Tosi's recipe from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. This birthday cake is a play on the quintessential funfetti birthday cake loaded with rainbow sprinkles (jimmies). This recipe has a lot of steps, but isn't too difficult. Spread out the work over a couple days, and you'll be fine!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 50 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12 slices

Calories 624kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• Sheet pan
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• OXO balloon whisk
• Mini offset
• 6-inch cake ring
• Acetate

Ingredients

Birthday cake crumbs

• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 25 grams light brown sugar
• 90 grams cake flour
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 20 grams rainbow sprinkles
• 40 grams grapeseed oil
• 15 mL pure vanilla extract

Birthday cake

• Pam or vegetable oil for preparing the pan
• 245 grams cake flour
• 7.5 mL baking powder
• 3.75 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 50 grams rainbow sprinkles
• 55 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 60 grams vegetable shortening
• 250 grams granulated sugar
• 50 grams light brown sugar packed
• 3 large egg(s)
• 110 grams buttermilk (1 % fat)
• 65 grams grapeseed oil
• 10 mL pure vanilla extract
• 25 grams rainbow sprinkles

Birthday cake soak

• 55 grams whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract

Birthday cake frosting

• 200 grams icing sugar
• 2.5 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 1 pinch baking powder
• 1 pinch citric acid
• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 50 grams vegetable shortening
• 55 grams Philadelphia cream cheese (full fat, regular)
• 15 mL Wilton glucose
• 15 mL light corn syrup
• 15 mL pure vanilla extract

Metric - US

Instructions

To make the birthday cake crumbs

• Preheat the oven to 300°F. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or a piece of parchment.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles and mix them on low speed until they are evenly mixed.
• Add the oil and the vanilla and continue beating the mixture until the ingredients clump and form small clusters.
• Carefully spread the delicate clusters in a thin layer on the prepared baking sheet and bake them for about 20 minutes. They dry and harden as the cool into crispy crumbs. Let them cool completely before using them. By the time you’ve made the cake and frosting, they will be ready to be used anyways.

To make the cake layers

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (use an oven thermometer to verify the temperature). Prepare a rimmed quarter sheet pan (mine is a 10-x15-inch pan with a 1-inch rim) by spraying it all over with Pam and then covering the base with a sheet of parchment. Set aside.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and 50 grams of sprinkles in a small bowl. Set the dry ingredients aside for later.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, shortening, and the sugars on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Add the eggs (all at once) and then beat again on medium-high for another 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl.
• In a 1-cup measurer, weigh out the buttermilk, grapeseed oil, and vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the wet ingredients in a steady stream. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for another 4 to 6 minutes. The mixture will double in size almost, and will appear light and fluffy. There will be no trace of oil left.
• With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, and mix for another minute or so until the ingredients are all combined.
• Pour out the batter into the prepared sheet pan, spreading it out into an even layer. Sprinkle with the remaining 25 grams of rainbow sprinkles.
• Bake for 30–35 minutes until the cake bounces back slightly when gently pressed in the corner. The center of the cake should no longer jiggle when the pan is shook. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a wire rack.

To make the birthday cake soak

• Whisk together the milk and vanilla in a small cup or bowl. Set aside for later.

To make the birthday cake frosting

• Whisk together the powdered sugar, salt, baking powder, and citric acid in a medium bowl. Set aside for later.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening, and the cream cheese for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the bowl periodically.
• Add the glucose, corn syrup, and vanilla, and beat the mixture on medium-high again, for 2 to 3 minutes until it is silky smooth and a little glossy. Scrape down the bowl a few times.
• Now add the whisked dry ingredients and incorporate them on low speed. Increase the mixer speed to medium–high and beat the frosting until it is creamy and fluffy, just like the kind that comes in a can.

To assemble

• Cut the sheet cake into two 6-inch circles plus two half-circles using your cake ring as a template. Use a spatula to gently loosen and lift (carefully!) the circles and set them aside.
• Place the cake ring on a baking sheet lined with the 8-inch square of parchment. Line the inner rim of the ring with acetate to form a collar.
• Fill the bottom of the ring with the two half circles of cake. Press them slightly so that they are even. If there are any holes, fill them with the rest of the cake scraps.
• Brush half the birthday cake soak over the base of cake.
• Spread about 100 mL (one-fifth) of the birthday cake frosting over the base layer. Then sprinkle with one-third of the birthday cake crumbs, pressing them gently into the frosting. Top with another 100 mL (another fifth) of the birthday cake frosting, carefully spreading it so that it is even, but without disturbing the crumbs.
• Top with a full circle of cake, brush the rest of the cake soak over this layer, top with more frosting, cake crumbs, and another layer of frosting.
• Squeeze in the other strip of acetate between the inner rim of the ring and the first acetate strips (you are essentially making your cake ring taller at this point). Top with the last circle of cake. and the remaining frosting, spread evenly. Top with the remaining cake crumbs.
• Freeze the cake as is for at least 12 hours to set everything and making the unmolding process much easier.
• Three hours before serving, retrieve the pan from the freezer, and gently push the cake through the ring. Place it on a cake stand or cake plate. Now gently pull off the acetate ribbons.
• Let the cake defrost in the fridge before serving. Cut neatly with a large chef's knife.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!

Nutrition

Calories: 624kcal

Since in my early twenties, I had a soft-spot for cake mix vanilla and sprinkle cake topped with a generous swirl of that sprinkle frosting in a can, this was the perfect recipe for me. The cake was designed to taste like the typical "funfetti" birthday cake that many of us ate to celebrate the years of our youth. This recipe brings cake from a box and frosting from a can to a whole other level. With every bite, you can pick out the sweet, salty, and sour notes. The crumbs bring a surprising crispy element to the usual creamy texture of frosting.

Please note this post contains affiliate links for Amazon. If you buy a product I recommend, I will get a small commission, and the price you have to pay will not change in any way.

The post Homemade Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake for my 30th appeared first on The Bake School.

This cake is another creative way to bake with blackberries, which have a unique flavour that pairs well with almonds (as in this layer cake), but also apples, like in this apple blackberry crumble and these hearty apple blackberry muffins.

Getting creative with Milk Bar recipes

I loved making the Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake and the birthday cake truffles so much, I had to try my hand at another Milk Bar recipe, but this time I decided to get a little creative. When I started playing around with this recipe, first thing I tackled was the curd, and with this curd came a valuable life lesson (because when is anything straightforward and easy in my life?).

I followed the recipe for the passion fruit curd from the Milk Bar book (available on Amazon), swapping in blackberry purée for the passion fruit. The first results were, shall we say... not so tasty.

First thing I noticed was that it was way too salty. Tosi's recipes are often salt-heavy, but usually that doesn't bother me. Here it did.
Second, it was too buttery for a curd, and the blackberry flavour was largely overpowered by this, and the salt.
But, the worst part of all: the curd had a terribly metallic aftertaste that was concerning, to say the least. Why? 

Always use good quality stainless steel equipment when working with acids and fruits

I scratched my head for a long time over this because the blackberry purée I used was top quality and tasted just like it should. All my ingredients were as fresh as possible, so I was left with the only possibility: something happened when I was making the curd. In the moment, I blamed my poor blender because it was the only thing that was out-of-the-ordinary in the curd-making process. Wrong.

It wasn't until I was whisking a second batch of curd (no blender for me!)—this time, based on the lemon curd in Tosi's book—that I figured out the culprit: the whisk! For the first batch, I happened to grab one of my "dollar store" whisks without thinking (normally I use it with dry ingredients only). I ended up with an awful, inedible metallic curd. For the second batch, I used my fancy OXO whisk (available on Amazon). The curd tasted delicious, and there was no metallic aftertaste whatsoever.

Lesson learned. Always invest in and use top-quality stainless steel tools! The OXO whisk (available on Amazon) is worth every penny and more since it's actually stainless steel and not leaching metal with acidic foods. And no, OXO did not pay me for this post, nor ever supply me with a free whisk.

Special equipment

• stand mixer: Christina Tosi has a very specific way of mixing cake batters and they require a ton of beating. Unfortunately, this means using a hand-held electric mixer is a terrible option for this recipe (as is a wooden spoon for mixing by hand). Your best bet is to use a KitchenAid Artisan 5 quart mixer. If you don’t have one and you want to bake more, I highly recommend getting one on Amazon. 
• 6-inch cake ring: I actually used the ring of a 6-inch springform pan from Amazon to build my cake, but it was not ideal because of the rim/seam on the springform which made it extra hard to unmold. Buy a cake ring from Amazon if you can.
• acetate: when I made this cake, I didn’t know where to buy acetate, so I used acetate sheets from an office supply store. No clue if it’s food grade. Don’t do that. Buy a roll of acetate from Amazon.
• mini offset spatula: I love my mini offset spatula from Ateco and I use it all the time when I am making cakes. You can buy it on Amazon! Tosi actually uses a spoon that she’s bent to assemble cakes. That’s another option if you don’t mind bending one of your spoons.
• quarter sheet pans with rims: I like these Nordic Ware quarter sheet pans on Amazon.
• good quality stainless steel whisk: I cannot stress the importance of this. Invest in good tools if you want to avoid your curd tasting like metal! I use an OXO whisk that you can buy on Amazon.

Special ingredients to make Milk Bar style layer cakes

Milk Bar style layer cakes are elaborate and involve a few specialty ingredients that professional bakers rely on:

• fruit purée: I recommend Ravifruit brand frozen purée which you can purchase on Amazon
• liquid glucose: you may find it at Bulk Barn or your local bulk ingredients store, or restaurant/baking supply stores in your area. If not, you can Wilton brand glucose from Amazon.
• gelatin sheets: I used Dr. Oetker “gold” gelatin which you can also find on Amazon
• almond paste: I like I used Lebeca brandwhich has 60% almonds and you can buy from Vanilla Food Company
• chocolate: I bake with Cacao Barry chocolate usually. For this recipe I used Cacao Barry 30% Blanc Satin Amazon
• almond oil: you could use canola or grapeseed oil, but in this almond cake, it's nice to use almond oil. If you'd like to buy almond oil, you can buy it on Amazon. 
• almond flour: the almond flour adds a lot of flavour to this cake. You can buy it on Amazon.
• milk powder: Christina Tosi recommends uses powdered milk a lot. Milk powder adds the flavour of milk without adding extra liquid that can throw off your recipe. You can buy it on Amazon.

How to store this cake

Given this almond layer cake is made with fruit curd, fresh fruit purée, and almond frosting, it's best to store it in the fridge. If you've cut into the cake, just cover the cut edges with pieces of parchment to prevent them from drying out. Place the cake in the fridge until the frosting is firm and cold, then cover the whole thing with aluminum foil. You can store this cake for up to a week, or freeze slices for later.

For a detailed explanation, read about how to store cake.

If you love almond paste, this cake is for you because it's loaded with the good stuff. This recipe is based on Christina Tosi's pistachio lemon cake in her book Momofuku Milk Bar (available on Amazon). I used almond paste and almond oil instead of pistachio, and I used a combination of blackberry purée and lemon juice for the curd and cake soak. The crumbs I made as in the book.

P.S. If you love layer cakes, and you haven't bought Tosi's book yet, drop everything and go get it on Amazon. This book is a fountain of information, with insight into why Tosi has constructed her cakes and recipes the way she has. There's a method to her madness, and her book explains why.

If you tried this recipe for this gorgeous blackberry almond cake (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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Blackberry Almond Cake - Milk Bar Style Naked Cake

This blackberry almond cake is a riff on the Milk Bar pistachio layer cake with lemon curd. The cake layers are almond-flavoured as is the frosting, and the curd is made with a mix of blackberry purée and lemon juice. Sinfully good!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 50 minutes minutes

Cook Time 32 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 22 minutes minutes

Servings 12 slices

Calories 782kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• OXO balloon whisk
• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Sheet pan
• Mini offset
• 6-inch cake ring
• Acetate

Ingredients

For the blackberry curd

• 50 grams blackberry purée
• 30 grams fresh lemon juice
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 4 large egg(s)
• 1 gelatin sheet
• 115 grams unsalted butter

For the almond cake

• 190 grams almond paste
• 75 grams Wilton glucose
• 6 large egg white(s)
• 280 grams icing sugar
• 110 grams ground almonds
• 75 grams almond oil
• 55 grams whipping cream (35 % fat)
• 160 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 6 grams baking powder
• 6 grams Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

For the almond frosting

• 115 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 40 grams icing sugar
• 230 grams almond paste
• 1 pinch Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt

For the milk crumbs

• 40 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 40 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 12 grams cornstarch
• 25 grams granulated sugar
• 2 grams Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 55 grams unsalted butter
• 20 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 90 grams white chocolate

For the cake soak

• 60 grams blackberry purée

Metric - US

Instructions

To make the blackberry curd

• In a medium saucepan, whisk together the purée, lemon juice, and half the sugar.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and the rest of the sugar, and then transfer to the saucepan.
• Place the gelatin sheet in a bowl of cold water to soften.
• Heat the fruit/egg mixture on medium heat with constant whisking until the curd thickens and begins to boil. Boil for 1 minute with whisking, then take it off the heat.
• Squeeze the gelatin of excess water, then whisk the softened sheet into the saucepan, followed by the butter.
• Strain the curd into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap clung to the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cool in the freezer for a maximum of 30 minutes, then in the fridge for several hours.

To make the almond cake

• Heat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Prepare a rimmed quarter sheet pan by spraying it with cooking spray and then lining it with parchment.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the almond paste and glucose on medium-low for about 2 minutes until it is smooth and homogeneous, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• On low speed, beat in the egg whites, one at a time, waiting til each is incorporated before adding the next, scraping the bowl as needed. At the end you should have a fluid, uniform batter.
• Add the icing sugar and almond flour and mix the batter on low speed to combine for about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Stream the oil and cream into the mixer bowl set to low. Increase the speed to medium to ensure it is well mixed.
• Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix them in on low speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. The batter should be smooth
• Spread the batter onto the prepared sheet pan and bake it for about 22 minutes or until the edges are golden and a cake tester comes out clean.
• Cool completely before using.

To make the milk crumbs

• Heat the oven to 250 °F (120 °C).
• Combine the 40 grams milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and mix with a spoon until clumps form.
• Dump the crumbs onto a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes then cool them completely.
• Transfer the cold crumbs to a bowl and toss them with the remaining 20 grams milk powder, followed by the melted chocolate.
• Stir the mixture every so often to ensure all the crumbs are evenly coated. Let cool completely before using.

To make the almond frosting

• Beat together the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium.
• Add the almond paste and the salt and beat again starting at low, then increasing to medium-high, scraping down the bowl as needed. Use immediately.

To assemble the cake

• Prepare a 6-inch cake ring (from Amazon) by placing it on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, lining the inside of the ring with a 20 inch long piece of acetate (also on Amazon).
• Cut out two 6-inch circles of cake, and two half circles.
• Fit the two half circles of cake at the bottom of the acetate-lined ring, filling any gaps with the leftover cake scraps.
• Brush the cake with half the blackberry purée (~30 grams), then smooth on half the blackberry curd and sprinkle one third of the milk crumbs over the curd. Dollop with one third of the almond frosting, then gently spread into an even layer.
• Gently fit a second strip of acetate between the first and the ring to give your mold height. Then, place the next layer of cake over the frosting, and repeat the previous step by brushing with purée, smoothing with curd, sprinkling with milk crumbs, then dolloping/smoothing with frosting.
• Place the final layer over top, pressing slightly. Spread with the final bit of frosting and the milk crumbs.
• Freeze 12 hours to set, then pop the frozen cake out of the ring, placing it on a cake stand. Pull off the strips of acetate and let the cake defrost for about 6 hours in the fridge before serving.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For the fruit purée, I recommend Ravifruit brand frozen purée, which you can purchase on Amazon
• For the gelatin sheets, I used Dr. Oetker “gold” gelatin, which you can also find on Amazon
• For the almond paste, I like I used Lebeca brand, which has 60% almonds. You can buy it from Vanilla Food Company
• I like to buy Wilton glucose (available on Amazon) because it comes in small containers (this way you aren't stuck with a 5 kg tub of glucose!)
• I bake with Cacao Barry chocolate usually. For this recipe, I used Cacao Barry 30% Blanc Satin Amazon

Nutrition

Calories: 782kcal | Carbohydrates: 85g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 361mg | Potassium: 356mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 61g | Vitamin A: 852IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 200mg | Iron: 2mg

The post Blackberry almond cake — Milk Bar style appeared first on The Bake School.

What are cake truffles

Cake truffles are like the adult version of cake pops. Bits of cake are mixed with a little liquid (like milk and vanilla, or you could also mix in some booze). Use just enough liquid to moisten the cake scraps so that they can be shaped into truffles. I've made Christmas cake balls (with leftover fruitcake), dipping them in either dark chocolate or white chocolate to finish them. This also helps them hold their shape so that you can give out the cake truffles as gifts!

Why Birthday cake truffles?

Christina Tosi made cake truffles cool by making birthday cake truffles, using scraps from her Milk Bar birthday cake. It's also a smart, money-saving business move to take the leftover scraps that would have been thrown out and to turn them into something else that you can sell. Birthday cake truffles are like bite-sized morsels of birthday cake, easy to make and super fun to eat.

To make birthday cake truffles, you will need:

• some leftover cake: for birthday cake truffles, use leftover sprinkle cake (funfetti cake)
• a binder: for birthday cake truffles, I used milk flavoured with a little vanilla, but you could also use booze, or even lemon curd, passion fruit curd, or grapefruit curd, or even a fudge sauce
• a coating or hard shell: for birthday cake truffles, I used white chocolate. I've also used dark chocolate or milk chocolate. The chocolate coating will seal the cake truffles and preserve them. Covering the truffles in melted chocolate also allows you to coat them in something crunchy 
•  a crunchy coat: for birthday cake truffles, use leftover Milk Bar birthday cake crumbs or milk crumbs, but you could also toast leftover cake to make cake crumbs, or chopped toasted nuts, coconut, sprinkles, ground buttered popcorn brittle, ground homemade graham crackers, etc.

For the sprinkle cake and birthday cake crumbs, I used leftovers from making the Milk Bar birthday cake. This recipe is inspired by the carrot cake truffle recipe from the Milk Bar book available on Amazon—I highly recommend ordering this book if you don't have it yet!

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Birthday Cake Truffles

A recipe for Momofuku Milk Bar birthday cake truffles made from cake scraps. You can make cake truffles from leftover cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 24

Calories 81kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

• 55 grams whole milk (3.25 % fat)
• 4 grams pure vanilla extract
• 300 grams birthday cake scraps
• 90 grams white chocolate melted
• 140 grams birthday cake crumbs finely ground in a food processor

Metric - US

Instructions

• In a small cup, combine the milk and vanilla. This will be your binder for your truffles. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, dump in your cake scraps. With the mixer on low, pour in half the vanilla milk. Increase speed to thoroughly mix.
• Stop the mixer and test to see if you can squeeze a tablespoonful together and form a ball. If you can’t add a little more vanilla milk, and mix again.
• Form the truffle dough into about 24 equal balls, using your palms to shape them. Set them on a parchment-lined sheet. Place the sheet on the left side of your worktable.
• Transfer the melted chocolate to a shallow bowl (if it’s not already in one), and set it to the right of the sheet of truffles.
• Have the crumbs ready in a shallow bowl to the right of the melted chocolate. Now that your worktable is set up, you are ready to start dipping and coating the truffles.
• With gloved hands and working with a truffle or two at a time, dunk each truffle ball into the melted chocolate and rub it around between your gloved palms to thinly but evenly coat it with chocolate, then immediately drop the chocolate-coated truffle into the bowl with the crumbs, and toss it around the mixture with a spoon until it is completely coated with crumbs. Transfer it back to the parchment lined sheet while you dip and coat the others.
• Transfer the cake truffles to a container and refrigerate them to set the chocolate and store them.

Notes

For this recipe, you will need birthday cake scraps and birthday cake crumbs from the Milk bar birthday cake recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 81kcal

The post Birthday cake truffles: what to make with leftover cake appeared first on The Bake School.

What are compost cookies

The compost cookies sold at Milk Bar are very similar to kitchen sink cookies, or everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cookies. They are next level chocolate chip cookies, loaded with your favourite snacks. The idea is to use the tail ends of ingredients and snacks leftover in your pantry to make compost cookies, thus the name. Waste not, want not! The same goes for Tosi's compost pound cake, made with  butterscotch morsels, mini chocolate chips, pretzels, potato chips, oats, and more! Anything goes and all roads lead to yummy salty-sweet cakes and cookies.

It's amazing how Christina Tosi can pull together ingredients like coffee grinds and potato chips and then turn them into delicious cookies. I find her truly inspiring how she recycles cake scraps to make birthday cake truffles. The compost cookie recipe comes from her book: Milk Bar available on Amazon. I especially love the note in the sidebar for the compost cookie recipe where Tosi tells readers to use fresh coffee grinds and not those leftover from your morning's brew. Makes me laugh.

The pantry odds and ends that I stuffed into this recipe include semi-sweet chocolate chips (instead of mini chocolate chips), white chocolate chips (instead of butterscotch morsels), oats, graham cracker crumbs (turned into Tosi's graham cracker crust recipe, as instructed) and potato chips. I didn't have pretzels so I skipped them, but if you want to skip them, use double the potato chips!

I think the best part of this recipe is the cookie dough itself. Obviously, we all love traditional unbaked chocolate chip cookie dough, but this one is even better. I don't know if it's the graham cracker crust, or the potato chips. I've added coffee grinds to coffee and raspberry bread pudding with much success, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the coffee grinds added so much flavour to this cookie recipe. I contemplated turning off my phone and settling down on the couch with the Kitchenaid mixer bowl of cookie dough in my lap, spoon in hand.

If and when you get around to baking the chilled cookie dough, you will end up with crispy-edged jumbo cookies with the perfect balance of salty and sweet. The coffee grinds add a certain mocha flavour to them, but I find every bite of cookie is a wonderful surprise.

If you love to eat chocolate chip cookies, make these cookies, and buy the book they came from: Milk Bar available on Amazon. Seriously.

Compost cookie recipe

This recipe is adapted from the recipe in Tosi's book, with changes to the compost add-ins, among other things. If you are a fan of Momofuku Milk Bar, then try making the Milk Bar birthday cake, the Milk Bar birthday cake truffles, and this blackberry almond cake too!

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Milk Bar Compost Cookies

A recipe for Momofuku Milk Bar compost cookies from the cookbook Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi. These cookies are like everything cookies or everything but the kitchen sink cookies, made with potato chips, graham cracker crumbs, white and dark chocolate chips, but you can also put pretzels and pieces of candy bars.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 18 minutes minutes

Total Time 43 minutes minutes

Servings 15

Calories 429kcal

Author Janice Lawandi

Equipment

• 5-quart KitchenAid Artisan mixer
• GIR spatula
• 3-¼ oz scoop
• Sheet pan

Ingredients

Graham crust ingredients

• 95 grams graham cracker crumbs
• 10 grams nonfat dry milk powder
• 13 grams granulated sugar
• 1.25 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 28 grams unsalted butter melted
• 27 grams whipping cream (35 % fat)

Compost cookie ingredients

• 225 grams bleached all-purpose flour
• 2.5 mL baking powder
• 1.25 mL baking soda
• 3.75 mL Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
• 250 grams mini chocolate chips
• 85 grams graham crust (½ recipe above)
• 50 grams mini pretzels
• 50 grams white chocolate chips
• 43 grams rolled oats (or large flake oats)
• 37.5 mL ground coffee beans
• 50 grams potato chips
• 225 grams unsalted butter room temperature
• 200 grams granulated sugar
• 150 grams light brown sugar
• 50 grams Wilton glucose
• 1 large egg(s)
• 5 mL pure vanilla extract

Metric - US

Instructions

To make the graham crust

• Stir together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl with a fork to evenly distribute them.
• In a small cup, whisk together the butter and cream. Add this to the dry ingredients and continue mixing with a fork. Eventually the mixture will form clumps (see photo). If it doesn’t, you will need to add more melted butter, by ½ tablespoon amounts until it clumps.
• Store in an airtight container. You will use half this recipe for the compost cookies.

To make the compost cookies

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set the dry ingredients bowl aside.
• In another medium bowl, place the chocolate chips (white and semi-sweet or whatever you are using), graham crust, pretzels, oats, ground coffee, and potato chips. You don’t need to mix them. These are your add-ins for later.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and glucose on medium-high for 2 minutes.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and vanilla. Beat this mixture for 7 to 8 minutes.
• Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the whisked dry ingredients. Mix until the dough is just combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Don’t overmix.
• On low speed, dump in the add-ins, and mix until they are just combined into the dough, about a minute or so.
• Scoop the dough by ⅓ cups onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Pat down the scoops a little and refrigerate overnight.
• When the dough is completely chilled, bake the cookies (3 per sheet or spaced about 4 inches apart because they spread quite a bit) in a 375°F (190 °C) oven for 18 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden but the centers are still very light.
• Cool completely before serving.

Notes

• This recipe calls for Diamond Crystal fine Kosher salt. If using regular table salt, add half the amount or the recipe may be too salty!
• For the glucose, I used Wilton glucose, which you can buy on Amazon
• If you don't have mini chocolate chips, use the same weight of regular semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips.
• If you don't have white chocolate chips, use the same weight of butterscotch morsels.
• Please note that I bake with uncoated aluminum sheet pans that are light in colour. If you are baking this recipe with darker bakeware, you may have to drop the oven temperature to 350 °F (175 °C) to prevent your baked goods from browning too quickly.

Nutrition

Calories: 429kcal

The post Momofuku Milk Bar compost cookies appeared first on The Bake School.