David Chang is a jerk. I didn't say; people he's friends with have said it. From what I've read, he is unstable, self-evisceration at every opportunity, and brilliant food. His Milk Bar stores (2 of them) have funky, strange menus that fly in their surroundings.
I dare you to try to sell cereal-infused milk in the MidWest. Seriously. You'd have to market it specifically to young ones. 35+ is going to laugh at you and say, "I can drink that after I eat my cereal. Thanks." And then you get 3 hours of sharing cholesterol scores.
David Chang has employed a rockstar at pastry. Christina Tosi came up with Crack Pie, and it is evil. And I love her.
Let me explain.
I made Crack Pie. Top to bottom, specifically using exactly the ingredients I was told to use. No substitutions, no switchouts. I did what I was told. I started at 10 pm the night before, getting ingredients. It took 4 trips and 6 hours just to make the crust.
Was that my fault? Probably. Does that make me hate this pie any less? Not so much. I had to wait a day for it. Seriously, it had to chill for at least 12 hours, and I wasn't going to serve it unless I could relish the damn taste of it. Turning it half-way through both phases of the cooking process was a tiny pain in the ass, but at least the thing baked evenly.
More than once I screamed. I really would have liked to strangle the pie, were it strangleable. I think I very nearly threw the whole thing away when I realized I'd run out of salt. I was an hour away from the chilling phase, and I would have detroyed it. Then I remembered - it's salt. It'll be okay. End of story.
It's amazing. I would describe it as "pecan pie without pecans," maybe a bit creme brulee on top of a gooey butter cake/ oatmeal cookie crust. Be careful, you can overdose. There are ingredients involved that are similar to chess pie, but this is NOT chess pie. Having had both, I can safely say the textural and ingredient differences are enough to put a bit of a wall between these pies. I love the soft deliciousness, the way the cold crust still reminds you of a warm, welcoming cookie. You MUST serve it cold.
The recipe is complicated and huge. I'll post the recipe if needed, but it's large. The time constraint is impressive - 12 hours to set. But the taste is so very worth it.
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