News from the kitchen. Have you been hearing about Crack Pie, the sugar and butter-laden concoction of Chistina Tosi, pastry chef for the highly acclaimed Momofuku Milk Bar in New York? I've been hearing lots about it, including a couple podcast interviews. My curiosity was piqued and last weekend, I decided to give it a go.
The crust is made from an oatmeal cookie dough which you bake, then grind up, adding more butter and sugar, and form into piecrusts. And the filling is pure decadence--butter, egg yolks, sugar and more sugar, yielding two pies. OK, pies were assembled and looked great, using my best Williams Sonoma pie pans--first class all the way. The recipe said to bake the pies separately. OK. About 15 minutes into the first baking, I opened the oven door to find the pie filling dripping all over the oven floor--a hot mess indeed.
Did I mention the Williams Sonoma pie pans had PERFORATIONS??
Talk about a slap to the forehead.... I have baked quiches in these pans with no problems, but the buttery, sugary, eggy concoction in a crumb crust was too much for the pan. What an idiot I am for not foreseeing that. Had no choice but to turn off the oven, cool it, clean it, sandblasting out the burned on pie filling. As you can imagine, this whole oven cleaning process took the better part of Sunday afternoon. Then I had to try to figure what to do with pie #2.
I wrapped the pie pan in foil, placed it inside another pie pan, and the second pie turned out beautifully. I brought it to work for a staff birthday party and Crack Pie received all kinds of acclaim.
Happy ending and lesson learned!!
Anyone else who gives Crack Pie a spin--it took nearly 20 minutes more baking time in my oven than specified in the recipe. Still not quite sure why the recipe says to bake the pies separately. But perhaps that's so morons like myself can salvage at least one pie. A lot of work, but delicious, sinful, and enjoyable down to the last crumbs.
