Milk Bar Pie, formerly known as Crack Pie, is a dessert created by the American chef Christina Tosi in 2008 while working at the New York City restaurant wd~50. It became the signature dish of Tosi's bakery, Milk Bar.
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Tosi originally named the dessert Crack Pie for its addictive qualities, but changed it to Milk Bar Pie in 2019 after the name was criticized as insensitive.
Development
editThe American chef Christina Tosi created Milk Bar Pie, initially known as Crack Pie, for a staff meal while working at the New York City restaurant wd~50 .[1] She described regularly making desserts from "whatever mise-en-place was left over from the previous night's service".[2] When missing ingredients one morning, she came across a recipe for chess pie in Joy of Cooking. Tosi describes chess pie as something "the old gals of yesteryear made when there was nothing to really make pie out of".[2] She substituted heavy cream for the called-for buttermilk to create a gooier consistency and corn powder and milk powder for the called-for flour to create a more interesting flavor.[2] The pie was popular at family meals.[3]
Milk Bar
editWhen Tosi opened Momofuku Milk Bar in 2008, she revised the Crack Pie to include an oatmeal-cookie crust.[2] It became her signature product. According to Vice, "Tosi’s Milk Bar has been synonymous with the Crack Pie".[4][5][6] Gourmet called it Tosi's "defining dessert".[6] Bon Appetit called it her "most buzzed-about dish".[7] New York Daily News called it "New York's favorite sugar high".[8] In December 2009, Anderson Cooper appeared on Regis and Kelly discussing the pie.[9][5][6][10][3] The New York Times called the appearance a "seminal moment".[11]
The Los Angeles Times in 2010 said the price of the pie, then $44, was "jaw-dropping"; it attributed the pie's having "taken New York City by storm" partially to the price.[9] Axios in 2022 called the dish a "cult favorite".[12] Tosi's first cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar (2011), contains a recipe for the pie.[13]
Name change
editSome food writers and others have criticized naming foods including Crack Pie after addictive substances as insensitive and offensive.[4][14] In May 2019, Devra First of the Boston Globe criticized the name in a column for making light of addiction by alluding to the addictiveness of crack cocaine.[15] The following month, Milk Bar changed the name to Milk Bar pie.[4][14][16]
References
edit- ^ Muhlke, Christine (January 6, 2010). "The Nifty 50: Christina Tosi, Pastry Chef". The New York Times Style Magazine.
- ^ a b c d Tosi, Christina (2018). Momofuku Milk Bar. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. pp. 244–245. ISBN 978-1-4729-6414-4. OCLC 1054057022.
- ^ a b Houck, Brenna (2019-04-19). "Food Brands Are Finally Done With Calling Their Foods 'Crack'". Eater. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c Vera, Amir (April 15, 2019). "Crack Pie is no more as Milk Bar changes name of famous dessert". CNN. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
- ^ a b Makalintal, Bettina (15 April 2019). "Christina Tosi Has Changed Crack Pie's Name to 'Milk Bar Pie'". www.vice.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b c Senyel, Kelly (12 September 2012). "The Signature Dish: Food + Cooking : gourmet.com". www.gourmet.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ "The Secret Behind Momofuku's Crack Pie". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Salamone, Gina (26 February 2018). "Milk Bar's Crack Pie now sold in latte form". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ a b Lynch, Rene (2010-02-11). "Crack Pie: It's love at first bite". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Alexander, Kevin (9 November 2019). "If Everyone Can Get Milk Bar Pie, Is It Still Cool?". Thrillist. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Severson, Kim (2019-02-12). "For Christina Tosi, Building a Dessert Empire Is Not All Milk and Cookies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Sukin, Gigi (2022-01-26). "Cult-favorite Milk Bar treats hit Denver". Axios. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
- ^ Andriani, Lynn (November 9, 2011). "Baking Rules a Pro Says You Can Ignore". Oprah. Harpo, Inc. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
- ^ a b McBain, Liam (17 April 2019). "Milk Bar Changes the Name of Iconic 'Crack Pie' After Criticism". NBC New York. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ First, Devra (2019-03-20). "There's Nothing Cute About Crack Pie". The Boston Globe. pp. G1. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
- ^ Judkis, Maura (15 April 2019). "After complaints that it made light of an epidemic, Milk Bar renames its famous Crack Pie". The Washington Post.