the ecstasy tart…

This recipe, inspired by the infamous Crack Pie recipe from Momofuku’s Milk Bar cookbook (it comes out today – October 26th!!!), is quite the doozy. It requires use of both your large food processor AND stand mixer, a cookie sacrifice, and a true love of sugar and butter and eggs. May you be forewarned…. this recipe will take a lot of prep bowls and kitchen space, but in the end you will be rewarded for your time in the pure happiness that this brings to those who eat it. [And it makes two pies… which is always better than just one!]

There are three stages to this recipe:  (1) making a cookie, (2) sacrificing a cookie in search of a pie crust, and (3) baking a pie. You can prep for the last two steps while completing part (1), but it’ll still take a while to make the whole thing and you have to freeze it for 3 hours before serving. But seriously, people pay $44 a pie for this stuff in NYC… and I sort of know why now!

Part (1): Making a cookie

Ingredients:

8 T butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 T granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/16 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

PAM Spray

Tools needed:

Stand mixer w/Paddle
Oven

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream together the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in your mixer for 2-3 minutes on medium-high.

3. Add the egg yolk and beat at medium-high for 1-2 minutes until all of the sugar is dissolved.

4. Add the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the mixer at a low speed until it is all incorporated (1 minute).

5. Spray down a baking sheet with PAM and place a sheet of parchment down on top of it. Dump the cookie mixture onto the baking sheet and spread it out to 1/4” thickness across the baking sheet. (Use your fingers, a spatula, or a spoon… whatever floats your boat!) It won’t come close to covering the whole thing, but it will be a giant cookie.

6. Bake the cookie for 17 minutes (it should be fluffy in the middle but the edges will look brown).

7. Take the cookie out of the oven and let it cool completely.

Part (2): Sacrificing the Cookie for a pie crust

Ingredients:

1 cookie (crumbled to bit in a food processor
1 T light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick of butter

Tools needed:

Food Processor

Directions:

1. After the cookie has cooled, break it into chunks into your food processor. Add the brown sugar and salt. Pulse the mixture until it’s the consistency of sand.

2. Pour the crumbs into a bowl and add your butter. Get your hands dirty combining the butter until it’s moist enough to pack together into two evenly sized balls.

3. Place one ball into your 10-inch pie pan and press it to form a crust on the bottom and edges of the pan. Repeat with your remaining ball of cookie crumbles and the other 10-inch pie pan.

Part (3): Making your Pie!

Ingredients:

2 Pie Shells (made in Parts 1 & 2)
3/4 light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granuated sugar
1/4 cup milk powder
1/4 cup finely ground cornmeal/corn flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks of butter (melted)
3/4 cup cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
8 egg yolks

Tools needed:

Stand Mixer w/Paddle
Oven

Directions:

1. Measure and mix your dry ingredients (light brown sugar, granulated sugar, milk powder, corn flour & salt) in the mixer bowl with the paddle for 1 minute. Add the butter and mix on low-medium until everything is combined for 1-2 minutes.

2. Add the vanilla & heavy cream and continue mixing on low-medium for 2-3 more minutes.

3. On low speed, add the eggs yolks just until they are combined into the batter.

4. Pour the pie mixture into your freshly made pie shells!

5. Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. The pie should be brown on top but will wiggle in the middle when you shake it.

6. Oven the oven door and let the heat release until the oven is at 325 degrees. Close the oven door and cook for another 5 minutes. This time, they should only jiggle in the dead center! If not… cook for another 5 minutes

7. Take the pies out of the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack. Once they’re at room temperature, cover in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer for 3 hours or overnight.

8. To serve: defrost the pies in the fridge for an hour, sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut and serve ice cold!!!

I hope you get to enjoy this pie at home… because now I suddenly understand why people in NYC would pay $44 a pie for it!!!

Oh… and in case you already didn’t know, this thing is not in any way/shape/form healthy. But here’s the evidence (aside from the logic of seeing all of that butter and sugar) to show you…

One pie = 8 servings