Momofuku Milk Bar
Page 11
7. Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer (don’t worry, it’s not cheating). The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.
passion fruit curd
MAKES ABOUT 360 G (1½ CUPS)
This recipe is similar to the grapefruit pie’s Grapefruit Passion Curd, but with slightly different ingredient proportions. It also makes a larger batch so there’s enough to fill the chocolate chip cake.
100 g passion fruit puree
[½ cup]
65 g sugar
[⅓ cup]
2 eggs
1 gelatin sheet
170 g butter, very cold
[12 tablespoons (1½ sticks)]
2 g kosher salt
[½ teaspoon]
Powdered gelatin can be substituted for the gelatin sheets: use ½ teaspoon.
1. Put the passion fruit puree and sugar in a blender and blend until the sugar granules have dissolved. Add the eggs and blend on low until you have a bright-orange-yellow mixture. Transfer the contents of the blender to a medium pot or saucepan. Clean the blender canister.
2. Bloom the gelatin.
3. Heat the passion fruit mixture over low heat, whisking regularly. As it heats up, it will begin to thicken; keep a close eye on it. Once it boils, remove it from the stove and transfer it to the blender. Add the bloomed gelatin, butter, and salt and blend until the mixture is thick, shiny, and super-smooth.
4. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof container, and put in the fridge until the curd has cooled completely, at least 30 minutes. The curd can be refrigerated for up to 1 week; do not freeze.
coffee frosting
MAKES ABOUT 200 G (1 CUP)
Do not make this recipe until you are ready to assemble the chocolate chip cake. Once it is cold, coffee frosting is hell to bring back up to room temp. It will separate on you, and you will spend the same amount of time trying to force the coffee milk back into the butter mixture.
115 g butter, at room temperature
[8 tablespoons (1 stick)]
40 g confectioners’ sugar
[¼ cup]
55 g milk
[¼ cup]
1.5 g instant coffee powder
[¾ teaspoon]
1 g kosher salt
[¼ teaspoon]
We use Nescafé instant coffee for this delicious frosting. The entire country of Greece makes an amazing frappe that puts Starbucks’ frappuccino to shame, and Nescafé is the secret ingredient.
1. Combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale yellow.
2. Meanwhile, make a quick coffee milk: whisk together the milk, instant coffee, and salt in a small bowl.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. On low speed, gradually stream in the coffee milk. You are essentially forcing liquid into fat, so be patient. The butter mixture will clump up and separate upon contact with the coffee milk. Do not stream more coffee milk into the butter mixture until the previous addition is fully incorporated; keep the mixer on and remain patient. The result will be a wildly fluffy coffee frosting, pale brown and super-shiny. Use immediately.
confetti cookies
MAKES 15 TO 20 COOKIES
When we were in the Spanish Harlem rental kitchen for the summer of 2010, our cornflake-chocolate-chip-marshmallow cookie just wouldn’t bake up right in the busted convection ovens we were forced to use. So we stopped our crying, stopped making the cookie for a while, and took the opportunity to bring a new cookie into creation. The confetti cookie combines the technique of a snickerdoodle (cream of tartar makes all the difference in telling an average cookie apart from a snickerdoodle-inspired one) with the flavors of funfetti cake mix.
225 g butter, at room temperature
[16 tablespoons (2 sticks)]
300 g sugar
[1½ cups]
50 g glucose
[2 tablespoons]
2 eggs
8 g clear vanilla extract
[2 teaspoons]
400 g flour
[2½ cups]
50 g milk powder
[¼ cup]
9 g cream of tartar
[2 teaspoons]
6 g baking soda
[1 teaspoon]
5 g kosher salt
[1¼ teaspoons]
40 g rainbow sprinkles
[¼ cup]
½ recipe Birthday Cake Crumb
In a pinch, substitute 25 g (1 tablespoon) corn syrup for the glucose.
1. Combine the butter, sugar, and glucose in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs and vanilla, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. (See notes on this process.)
2. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, milk powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, and rainbow sprinkles. Mix just until the dough comes together, no longer than 1 minute. (Do not walk away from the machine during this step, or you will risk overmixing the dough.) Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
3. Still on low speed, add the birthday cake crumbs and mix in for 30 seconds—just until they are incorporated.
4. Using a 2¾-ounce ice cream scoop (or a ⅓-cup measure), portion out the dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat. 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.
5. Heat the oven to 350°F.
6. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on parchment- or Silpat-lined sheet pans. 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). The centers will show just the beginning signs of color. Leave the cookies in the oven for an additional minute or so if the colors don’t match and the cookies still seem pale and doughy on the surface.
7. 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.
birthday layer cake
MAKES 1 (6-INCH) LAYER CAKE, 5 TO 6 INCHES TALL; SERVES 6 TO 8
Once we got birthday cake crumbs down, we moved on to our larger quest of making a funfetti cake, canned frosting and all, from scratch. Turns out that looking on the side of the cake mix box at the monster ingredient list was really helpful in getting the “secret” stuff we couldn’t figure out by taste.
1 recipe Birthday Cake
1 recipe Birthday Cake Soak
1 recipe Birthday Cake Frosting
1 recipe Birthday Cake Crumb
special equipment
1 (6-inch) cake ring
2 strips acetate, each 3 inches wide and 20 inches long
1. Put a piece of parchment or a Silpat on the counter. Invert the cake onto it and peel off the parchment or Silpat from the bottom of the cake. Use the cake ring to stamp out 2 circles from the cake. These are your top 2 cake layers. The remaining cake “scrap” will come together to make the bottom layer of the cake.
layer 1, the bottom
2. Clean the cake ring and place it in the center of a sheet pan lined with clean parchment or a Silpat. Use 1 strip of acetate to line the inside of the cake ring.
3. Put the cake scraps in the ring and use the back of your hand to tamp the scraps together into a flat even layer.
4. Dunk a pastry brush in the birthday cake soak and give the layer of cake a good, healthy bath of half of the soak.
5. Use the back of a spoon to spread one-fifth of the frosting in an even layer over the cake.
6. Sprinkle one-third of the birthday crumbs evenly over the top of the frosting. Use the back of your hand
to anchor them in place.
7. Use the back of a spoon to spread a second fifth of the frosting as evenly as possible over the crumbs.
layer 2, the middle
8. With your index finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top ¼ inch of the first strip of acetate, so that you have a clear ring of acetate 5 to 6 inches tall—high enough to support the height of the finished cake. Set a cake round on top of the frosting, and repeat the process for layer 1 (if 1 of your 2 cake rounds is jankier than the other, use it here in the middle and save the prettier one for the top).
layer 3, the top
9. Nestle the remaining cake round into the frosting. Cover the top of the cake with the last fifth of the frosting. Give it volume and swirls, or do as we do and opt for a perfectly flat top. Garnish the frosting with the remaining birthday crumbs.
10. Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours to set the cake and filling. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
11. At least 3 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, pull the sheet pan out of the freezer and, using your fingers and thumbs, pop the cake out of the cake ring. Gently peel off the acetate and transfer the cake to a platter or cake stand. Let it defrost in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours (wrapped well in plastic, it can be refrigerated for up to 5 days).
12. Slice the cake into wedges and serve.
birthday cake
MAKES 1 QUARTER SHEET PAN CAKE
55 g butter, at room temperature
[4 tablespoons (½ stick)]
60 g vegetable shortening
[⅓ cup]
250 g granulated sugar
[1¼ cups]
50 g light brown sugar
[3 tablespoons tightly packed]
3 eggs
110 g buttermilk
[½ cup]
65 g grapeseed oil
[⅓ cup]
8 g clear vanilla extract
[2 teaspoons]
245 g cake flour
[2 cups]
6 g baking powder
[1½ teaspoons]
3 g kosher salt
[¾ teaspoon]
50 g rainbow sprinkles
[¼ cup]
Pam or other nonstick cooking spray (optional)
25 g rainbow sprinkles
[2 tablespoons]
1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
3. On low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle 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. Don’t rush the process. You’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for the liquid. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and the 50 g (¼ cup) rainbow sprinkles. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Pam-spray a quarter sheet pan and line it with parchment, or just line the pan with a Silpat. Using a spatula, spread the cake batter in an even layer in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining 25 g (2 tablespoons) rainbow sprinkles evenly on top of the batter.
6. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly 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.
7. Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer (don’t worry, it’s not cheating). The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 5 days.
birthday cake soak
MAKES ABOUT 60 G (¼ CUP)
55 g milk
[¼ cup]
4 g clear vanilla extract
[1 teaspoon]
Whisk together the milk and vanilla in a small bowl.
birthday cake frosting
MAKES ABOUT 430 G (2 CUPS)
115 g butter, at room temperature
[8 tablespoons (1 stick)]
50 g vegetable shortening
[¼ cup]
55 g cream cheese
[2 ounces]
25 g glucose
[1 tablespoon]
18 g corn syrup
[1 tablespoon]
12 g clear vanilla extract
[1 tablespoon]
200 g confectioners’ sugar
[1¼ cups]
2 g kosher salt
[½ teaspoon]
0.25 g baking powder
[pinch]
0.25 g citric acid
[pinch]
In a pinch, substitute 12 g (2 teaspoons) corn syrup for the glucose.
1. Combine the butter, shortening, and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2. With the mixer on its lowest speed, stream in the glucose, corn syrup, and vanilla. Crank the mixer up to medium-high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is silky smooth and a glossy white. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the confectioners’ sugar, salt, baking powder, and citric acid and mix on low speed just to incorporate them into the batter. Crank the speed back up to medium-high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, until you have a brilliant stark white, beautifully smooth frosting. It should look just like it came out of a plastic tub at the grocery store! Use the frosting immediately, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
As a kid back in Virginia, I became obsessed with Jell-O cheesecake mix. There were two packets in the box: one packet held the graham crumbs that you made into a crust following the recipe on the side of the box. I used to throw that packet out and go straight for the jugular: the cheesecake filling.
See, the graham crumb packet called for milk, some margarine, a bit of salt, and a pinch of sugar. Made with the skim milk found in my house and “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!” or another lame butter alternative, it always tasted like a dull, soggy mess. So I didn’t waste my time. I was a young cook, with no real knowledge of the subtleties of ingredients and their flavors. I just knew what tasted good and right, and, conversely, what was gross. But I didn’t know how to make something taste better: how to sharpen flavors or refine recipes within the realm of sweet, salty, or buttery. It wasn’t until years later that I honed these skills.
Salted caramel stole my heart in the early nineties, when it really made its way into mainstream media with its buttery-sweet start and buttery-salty finish. A dream come true, and a case study for me in terms of the power of ratios when dealing with my favorite ingredients. That balance is what I identify with first and foremost, even today.
During my twenties, I spent a lot of time learning about food, reading cookbooks, experimenting with recipes, and gaining a better overall understanding of certain ingredients, such as the difference between graham crusts made with milk or heavy cream or melted butter. It turns out there was more than one way to make a graham crust, and it didn’t require a Jell-O cheesecake mix.
Ten years later, I had a kitchen of my own, and I decided it was high time I came up with my own graham crust recipe. The perfect ratios of salt, sugar, and melted butter were the foundation, I knew. But I wanted my crust to stick out even more. I had discovered the power of milk powder earlier while experimenting with milk crumbs
in the basement at Ssäm Bar. And at that point, I was putting milk powder in every baked good, just to see what might happen. In the graham crust recipe, it added an amazing depth of flavor and a chewiness to the final product that I just loved.
To this day, the graham crust passes my snack test. Whenever anyone has a tub of it out on a prep table, I swoop in, scoop some into my hand, and snack away, happy as ever.
graham crust
MAKES ABOUT 340 G (2 CUPS)
190 g graham cracker crumbs
1½ cups]
20 g milk powder
[¼ cup]
25 g sugar
[2 tablespoons]
3 g kosher salt
[¾ teaspoon]
55 g butter, melted, or as needed
[4 tablespoons (½ stick)]
55 g heavy cream
[¼ cup]
1. Toss the graham crumbs, milk powder, sugar, and salt with your hands in a medium bowl to evenly distribute your dry ingredients.
2. Whisk the butter and heavy cream together. Add to the dry ingredients and toss again to evenly distribute. The butter will act as a glue, adhering to the dry ingredients and turning the mixture into a bunch of small clusters. The mixture should hold its shape if squeezed tightly in the palm of your hand. If it is not moist enough to do so, melt an additional 14 to 25 g (1 to 1½ tablespoons) butter and mix it in.