Can we get more American than that?
This is an exciting week on the Every Hostess. It’s the third week of Milk Bar month AND this is the first time that Kaitlin and I were able to join forces for an Every Hostess baking mission! And we’ve got a great reason to celebrate, too – FOURTH OF JULY! I think everyone can appreciate the most classic American dessert: Apple pie. But let’s get a little crazier than that!
Sure, we could have done a basic apple pie. But, that’s what everyone does, and doing what everyone does is not how we do things around here. And besides, it’s Milk Bar Month, so keeping with the theme, we went above and beyond. We present you with… the Milk Bar APPLE PIE CAKE!
This bad boy is made up of three layers of brown butter cake filled with baked apple compote, pie crumbs, pie crumb frosting and (wait for it)… liquid cheesecake. Yes. That’s a thing.
If you haven’t caught on by now, these cakes are great to make in advance because they spend the night in the freezer before they’re served. It solidifies everything together so that you can pull the acetate off with ease, revealing a perfectly shaped, perfectly presentable cake. Why is this good news, you ask? Because you wouldn’t want to be doing cake touch-ups on the day-of, after you’ve probably treated yourself to a blue and red-themed cocktail or two.
Happy 4th of July, everybody! Come back next week for the last (and most outrageously chocolatey) edition of Milk Bar Month!
Apple Pie Layer Cake
Makes 1 6” cake
By Christina Tosi & Momofuku Milk Bar
Ingredients
1 recipe Barely Brown Butter Cake
1 recipe Apple Cider Soak
1 recipe Liquid Cheesecake
½ recipe Pie Crumb
1 recipe Apple Pie Filling
½ recipe Pie Crumb Frosting
Special Equipment
Parchment paper or Silpat
6” cake ring
Quarter sheet pan (9” x 13”)
2 strips acetate, 3” wide and 20” long
Assembling the Cake
1. Put a piece of parchment paper 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.
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 inside the ring and use the back of your hand to tamp the scraps together into a flat even layer.
4. Dunk the pastry brush in the apple cider 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 half of the liquid cheesecake in an even layer over the cake.
6. Sprinkle one-third of the pie crumbs evenly over the liquid cheesecake. Use the back of your hand to anchor them in place.
7. Use the back of a spoon to spread one-half of the apple pie filling as evenly as possible over the crumbs [drain as much of the liquid as possible].
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 filling and repeat the process for layer 1 (save the prettiest cake layer for the top!)
9. Nestle the remaining cake round into the apple pie filling. Cover the top of the cake with all of the pie crumb frosting. Give it volume and swirls, or do as we do and opt for a perfectly flat top. Garnish the frosting with the remaining pie 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.
Barely Brown Butter Cake
4 tbsp (½ stick) butter
2 tbsp brown butter
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
3 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
⅓ cup grapeseed oil
½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1. To make the brown butter, place 2 tablespoons of butter in a microwave-safe bowl and top with a microwave-safe plate. Microwave for 3 to 5 minutes. The butter will pop while browning. Check the butter, and if not browned enough, microwave again in 1 minute increments. While the brown butter is cooling, stir periodically to incorporate the caramelized bits of butter. Cool completely.
2. Heat the oven to 350° F.
3. Combine the butters 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 of the bowl once more.
4. Stream in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla while the paddle swirls on low speed. Increase the speed to medium-high and paddle 5 to 6 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous. You’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for it, so if it doesn’t look right after 6 minutes, keep mixing. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together an any remnants of dry ingredients have been incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix on low speed for another 45 seconds to ensure that any lumps of cake flour are incorporated.
6. 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. Bake 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.
Apple Cider Soak
¼ cup apple cider
1 tsp light brown sugar, tightly packed
pinch of ground cinnamon
1. Whisk together the cider, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Liquid Cheesecake
8 oz. cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp milk
1 egg
1. Heat the oven to 300° F.
2. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Add the sugar and mix for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sugar has been completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Whisk together the cornstarch and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in the milk in a slow, steady stream, then whisk in the egg until the slurry is homogenous.
4. With the mixer on medium-low speed, stream in the egg slurry. Paddle for 3 to 4 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and loose. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Line the bottom and sides of a 6×6 inch baking pan with plastic wrap [The plastic wrap melted for me! I just baked it in a non-stick pan.] Poor the cheesecake batter into the pan, put the pan in the oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Gently shake the pan. The cheesecake should be firmer and more set toward the outer boundaries of the baking pan but still be jiggly and loose in the dead center. If the cheesecake is jiggly all over, give it 5 minutes more. If the cheesecake rises more than a ¼ inch or begins to brown, take it out of the oven immediately.
6. Cool the cheesecake completely, to finish the baking process and allow the cheesecake to set. The final product will resemble a cheesecake, but it will be pipeable and pliable enough to easily spread or smear, while still having body and volume. Once cool, the cheesecake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Apple Pie Filling
1 lemon
2-3 medium Granny Smith apples
1 tbsp butter
⅔ cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp kosher salt
1. Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold tap water. Juice the lemon into it. Fish out and discard any seeds. You will use this lemon water to keep your apple pieces looking fresh and pert.
2. Peel the apples, then halve and quarter them. Put each apple quarter on its side and cut a small slice down the length of the apple to remove the seeds and core. Cut each apple quarter lengthwise into thirds and then crosswise into fourths, leaving you with 12 small pieces from every apple quarter. Transfer these pieces to the lemon water as you go.
3. When you’re ready to cook, drain the apples and combine them in a medium pot with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly bring a boil over medium heat, using a spoon to gently stir the mixture as it heats up and the apples begin to release liquid. Reduce the heat and simmer the apples gently for 3 to 5 minutes. Be careful not to cook the apples so much that they turn into applesauce.
4. Transfer to a container and put in the fridge to cool down. Once completely cooled, the filling can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week; do not freeze.
Pie Crumb Frosting
½ recipe Pie Crumb (below)
½ cup milk
½ tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp butter, at room temperature
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
1. Combine the pie crumbs, milk, and salt in a blender, turn the speed to medium-high, and puree until smooth and homogenous. It will take 1 to 3 minutes (depending on the awesomeness of your blender). If the mixture does not catch on your blender blade, turn off the blender, take a small teaspoon, and scrape down the sides of the canister, remembering to scrape under the blade, then try again.
2. 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. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
3. On low speed, paddle in the contents of the blender, After 1 minute, crank the speed up to medium-high and let her rip for another 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. If the mixture is not a uniform, very pale, barely tan color, give the bowl another scrape-down and another minute of high-speed paddling.
4. Use the frosting immediately, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Pie Crumb
1½ cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp kosher salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, melted
1 ½ tbsp water
1. Heat the oven to 350° F.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and paddle on low speed until well mixed.
3. Add the butter and water and paddle on low speed until the mixture starts to come together in small clusters.
4. Spread the clusters on a parchment or Silpat lined sheet pan. Bake for 25 minutes, breaking them up occasionally. The crumbs should be golden brown and still slightly moist to the touch at that point; they will dry and harden as they cool.
5. Let the crumbs cool completely before using in a recipe or eating. Stored in an airtight container, the crumbs will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.
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