I Will Make You Crack Pie For A Mere $50

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Momofuku Milk Bar's Christina Tosi, a brilliant baker by all accounts, is now shipping her famous Crack Pie to Angelenos for $103 with shipping. I guess people in L.A. are paying for it, but seeing as how the L.A. Times published the recipe not too long ago, I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse: I'll bake you a Crack Pie for a mere $50 and deliver it to your home the day it's made.

I may not be Christina Tosi, but the price can't be beat. $50 for a pie? Come on, I'm giving it away.

What a Cook Wants, 13

A Super-Expensive, Hand made Pie Server
Dear reader, I have a confession: I am writing this post inebriated. I've never done this before, but I had a bunch of martinis (some with rose petals and white tea!) at the holiday party for one of the super-nice magazines I do freelance work for, and now you're hearing from a drunk Tory. I was going to slack off entirely and not post at all, but my boyfriend, the love of my life actually, convinced me it was better to keept my commitment drunk than not show up. He's such a good man.
So anyway, if I were a rich lady, this is what I'd buy for myself. Janet Torelli is a real artist and, from my limited interactions with her, a truly nice lady. So if you have money to burn, why not? It's pretty.
$275 for the Catalpa pie server, sterling silver. If I were rich, I'd buy it.

Julie Dove's Magic Buttermilk Pie

There have been a LOT of people who've approached me, either in person or via e-mail, about the Buttermilk Pie. Some of them (you know who you are) have been rather, umm, aggressive. Luckily for us all, Julie agreed to share her excellent recipe. And for those in the L.A. area, she'd probably sell you one too. My cut, of course, would be a 2-inch slice!
I did a little editing stylewise to make the recipe more cook-friendly, but this is Dove family goodness.

Julie Dove's Buttermilk Pie
serves 8 (unless you're alone, then...)

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
dash salt (Tory's suggestion)

1 prepared pie crust, unbaked

Preheat oven to 350◦F.
Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Whisk in flour and eggs, then buttermilk, vanilla, and optional salt.
Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 45 minutes or until puffed and tester inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool slightly (puff will deflate), invite Tory over, and enjoy.



If you make this delectable pie, please post your comments! And thanks again, Julie, for sharing.

Score one for the South, or Buttermilk Pie is magic

Despite my fast talking early childhood training that the South lost the war, and thus Southerners were lesser people, I'd like to posit that when it comes to dessert our friends below the Mason-Dixon line may have my Yankee fork licked.
Tonight my friend Julie, a native Texan, made two buttermilk pies. I never understood the physics behind any milk-based pie. Could it really work? And frankly, was buttermilk interesting enough to merit a pie of its own?
I watched Julie mix eggs and sugar, butter and buttermilk, vanilla and flour (to help firm it up) and a dash of salt into a goopy mess. There were teeny bits of butter left swimming around like tadpoles in a murky creek; I was skeptical. It did not look elegant, emulsified, or intricate. This was her first attempt and Julie was nervous, but she poured the goop into the crust and carefully slid the sloshing pies into the oven, no spills. And we waited.

I'll start with the delicate scent that wafted across the room. If there is a heaven and I actually get in, it might smell like this: the sweetest dairy, with hints of vanilla and a promise of compassion in the buttery, browning crust. Wow. When Julie finally maneuvered them out of the oven, they were speckled brown across the top and had puffed up like a bullfrog about to sing. She let them cool a bit (and the puff deflated), and then it was pie-time. My slice was pale yellow with a custardy, rippled texture. It was achingly sweet but tempered by the little tang from the buttermilk. The brown speckles across the top were caramlized bits that hinted at creme brulee and toasted marshmallows-- it was fantastic.

I take back all my trash talk about the South. And I'm willing to eat other fabulous items to prove just how foolish I was :)