Friday, February 6, 2009

Crack Pie



The key to crack pie is to place is back in the oven for 15 mins at 325 degrees. Let it cool and it is perfect! This is the BEST crack pie recipe available on the web, thanks to our thousands of readers who have perfected the cooking times!

It's not what you think! This incredibly rich, delicious dessert takes some work but with quality ingredients and decadent home-made taste it's worth it. The pastry is from David Chang's Milk Bar In NYC. Mr. Chang is the owner of the world famous Momofuku restaurant. It's interesting as it uses an oat cookie that you make as part of the crust for the actual pie.

Makes two 10-inch pies
• FOR THE OAT COOKIE
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup light-brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• FOR THE CRUST
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon light-brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• FOR THE FILLING
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons milk powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 8 large egg yolks
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
1. Make the oat cookie: Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together all oat cookie ingredients until well combined. Spread cookie mixture in an even layer on prepared baking sheet. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack.
3. Make the crust: Using your hands, crumble oat cookie into a large bowl. Add butter, brown sugar, and salt; using your hands, toss until crumbly and well combined.
4. Divide mixture evenly between two 10-inch pie plates; pat into bottom and up sides. Set aside.
5. Make the filling: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together sugars, salt, and milk powder, breaking up any lumps. Whisk in butter, heavy cream, and vanilla until well combined. Whisk in yolks until just combined.
6. Pour filling into prepared pie crusts. Transfer pies to oven and bake until filling is set, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 315 degrees and continue baking until top of pie is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Transfer to refrigerator and refrigerate until cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

This recipe was adapted from a segment on The Martha Stewart Show and is the same as that on every other website. We have not tried it and warn there have been mixed results. If you do decide to try it please let us know your results! And if you are looking for another amazing pastry, and much easier to make, you may want to try our version of the gourmet pop tart called the Better Than Pop Tart. Simply search for "Pop Tart" here on the blog. Happy baking!!



The Gourmet Pop Tart.

19 comments:

  1. wow. that is tantalizing... darn it, just before dinner, too!

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  2. I did not have good results with this recipe--first, the baking soda is really low and I'm going to adjust to 1/4 vs. 1/8 suggestion. Second, the batter seemed really runny, unlike the cake batter look I saw on Martha Stewart--so I have to play around with that. Even with my poor results, it still tasted pretty good (butter, sugar, flour--how can you go wrong?!)

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  3. A recipe using almost two cups of butter and a dozen eggs (for just two pies) should have been warning enough...however, since Martha gave it a thumbs up, I thought I'd give it a go.
    The result? Not even a houseful of hungry kids could be tempted to try it (even at the mention of the name "Crack Pie"!)
    Both pies went directly into the garbage, (including the bite taken by my daughter and myself!)
    Martha! I followed the directions to the letter. The pies literally swam in butter, which congealed on the top in a greasy mess as it cooled.
    I'm sorry to write this, but what a waste of time and money... :o(

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  4. I went to the Milk Bar last night and got crack pie. it's aptly named. a small, thin slice is $6. i've never been there before but the name crack pie drew me to this dessert. it was the most delicious thing i have ever tasted. there has to be crack in it. i forgot to take a fork so i ate it with my hands in the cab ride home. my girlfriend was annoyed until she tasted a little and then started fighting me for more. i almost went chris brown on her trying to guard the pie. i'm in withdrawal right now. this is the greatest food ever created and nobody should go through life without trying it.

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  5. It was very interesting for me to read that blog. Thanks for it. I like such topics and anything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read a bit more on that blog soon.

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  6. It was certainly interesting for me to read the article. Thank you for it. I like such topics and anything connected to this matter. I definitely want to read more soon.

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  7. It's missing the corn flour (to hold it together). I'll have to play with it and figure out the amount. Thanks for the recipe!

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  8. Crack Pie has become an overnight sensation because of Anderson Cooper mentioning it on Regis and Kelly the last two days. I plan to make the pie for a Christmas party this weekend. My question: after reviewing the Martha Stewart video where they make the pie, "butter" is mentioned, but in this recipe it's unsalted butter. Is that always the case when cooking? Do I definitely want unsalted? I know whenever I use butter I prefer salted... but I'm not much of a chef!

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  9. I know Davideo. My blog has been swamped with thousands of hits the past 2 days. Thank you Anderson Cooper. ALWAYS use unsalted butter when baking as you will add salt in the cooking.

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  10. This is basically a chess pie in a cookie crust. I'm going to try it, but because of the reviews I'm going to make a few alterations. I make a lemon chess pie which calls for as many eggs, but takes at least an hour to bake. It also calls for 1 tbsp of corn meal. I'm going to either try the corn meal or maybe a little corn starch to keep it smooth, but hopefully hold it together.

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  11. Had decent results with this recipe. None of the excess butter other commenters have mentioned and the pie was certainly very tasty. Still I agree that there is something missing as the pie was somewhat wetter and clumpier than it is from Momofuku Milk Bar. From the bakery, while dense, the pie has a smoother consistency. Not sure what it is that is missing. Perhaps it's corn flour as others have mentioned, though I was thinking an egg white or two might have helped.

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  12. Terrific Results - Hoping to win the pie contest tonight!

    Made the pie for the first time last night. Took about 2 hours. I was concerned about the crust - didn't seem like there was enough cookie for 2 pies. Not a problem. I became really concerned when I put them in the oven as they became very runny due to the butter melting. The key was to let them cook! I let them cook ~18/19 minutes at 325 for the filling to set. I let them cook ~20 minutes at 315 for the tops to brown. Great results!

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  13. I will definitely make this pie again!!

    I agree that the key is to cook it long enough. I did not have 10" pie pans so I used my 9" pie pans and let the pies cook longer than the recipe called for. I cooked each pie for 20 minutes at 350 then at 20-30 minutes at 325. I took them out of the oven when the top of the pie was brown and puffy.
    They turned out delicious! Everyone of my teenaged children's friends who have entered my house this weekend has tried a piece and loved it. I can see why it's called crack pie....I can't stop going back and getting small slices.

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  14. Ok so I live on 13th and 1, one block from Momofuku and have had this pie many many times.

    I made this receipe as it was written here in the blog and it is spot on.

    I have one simple suggestion LET THE PIE CHILL. This pie is supposed to be served chilled and it really needs to set.

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  15. I made this last night. I would use a bit less butter (maybe 1 1/2 sticks instead of two), and it definitely needs to cook longer than the directions. I baked according to the recipe, cooled the pies, and when I cut them, the filling oozed out all over the pie plate. I placed them back in the oven for 20 more minutes at 325 and they are just right.

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  16. My Grandmother used 2 tablespoons white flour in her chess pie. No cookie crust but they were delicious. The filling is similar to pecan filling. Good and gooey.

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  17. My Grandmother used 2 tablespoons white flour in her Chess Pie. No cookie crust but it was delicious. The filling should be gooey like pecan pie. Cool completely before serving. You can chill it then bring it to room temp if you don't want to serve it cold.

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  18. I made this last night and thought it was going to be a total flop. It was amazing! Everyone at the office had it and it was gone in about 10 minutes. It lives up to its name! I definately believe it is better after sitting overnight in the refrigerator then taking it out to warm up a tad. Loved it.

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  19. I watched the Martha Stewart video and noticed that Christina Tosi calls for about 3 oz each of oats and ap flour in the oat cookie. I think that translates to about 2/3 cup - that might be why we're all having very buttery results. I'm trying it again now!

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