Back to my childhood obsession with Jell-O No-Bake Cheesecake.… Once I trashed the graham crust, I’d dine on the filling. I’d whisk the powdered cheesecake mixture into some milk and watch it thicken and magically transform itself, no heat required. I’d go over to my friend Megan’s house to mix and eat it because her mom wouldn’t stop me (she’d just look on, horrified) as I fed myself an entire pie’s worth of thickened, creamy cheesecake-like filling. Mmmmm.
In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m kind of a fan of the gooey, just-barely-baked approach to making something delicious. There’s something so naughty and fulfilling about the texture. I’m sure a psychiatrist would tell me it’s because I was deprived of cookie dough for so long (cough, thanks, Mom, cough).
When I worked at wd~50, we would make the most deliciously rich cheesecakes with unlikely cheeses like Manchego, the semi-firm aged Spanish sheep’s-milk cheese, and Cabrales, the stinky firm blue cheese made from the milk of Spanish cows. When Sam, the pastry chef, wasn’t looking or was busy during service, I would shamelessly scrape some batter from the bowl into a pint container and either eat the batter raw or warm it slightly in the microwave to get it to barely set. Sometimes I ate so much of it that I’d have to make more for service.
Once I’d settled into my role as pastry chef at Momofuku, I knew I had every right to eat magically thickened cheesecake filling in the confines of my new home. But I also knew I had to develop my own take on many of the beloved staples of my diet, and so began the search for my voice in the form of cheesecake.
It was a short journey: my heart beats for one and only one kind of cheesecake—the underbaked, messy kind. And so, my signature cheesecake is liquid cheesecake.
MAKES ABOUT 325 G (1½ CUPS)
225 g cream cheese
[8 ounces]
150 g sugar
[¾ cup]
6 g cornstarch
[1 tablespoon]
2 g kosher salt
[½ teaspoon]
25 g milk
[2 tablespoons]
1 egg
Elsewhere in this book: Liquid cheesecake is used in the Carrot Layer Cake.
1. Heat the oven to 300°F.
2. Put the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the 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. Pour 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. And 5 minutes more if it needs it, but it’s never taken me more than 25 minutes to underbake one. 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.
MAKES ABOUT 450 G (1 PINT)
At our East Village Milk Bar, we have two big-boy soft-serve machines that churn ice cream day and night. To keep ourselves entertained and to keep customers interested, we change the flavors every six weeks, basing each flight of flavors around a theme. This recipe was part of a suite of ice creams flavored liked baked goods, and, true to its name, it tastes just like cheesecake. The twist with it and our key lime pie ice cream was crazy good!
1 gelatin sheet
220 g milk
[1 cup]
½ recipe Liquid Cheesecake
15 g sour cream
[1 tablespoon]
¼ recipe Graham Crust
[85 g (½ cup)]
20 g milk powder
[¼ cup]
2 g kosher salt
[½ teaspoon]
Powdered gelatin can be substituted for the sheet gelatin: use ½ teaspoon.
2. Warm a little bit of the milk and whisk in the gelatin to dissolve.
3. Transfer the gelatin mixture to a blender, add the remaining milk, the liquid cheesecake, sour cream, graham crust, milk powder, and salt, and puree until smooth and even. Don’t be stingy on the blending time: you want to make sure the graham crust is completely liquefied; otherwise, your cheesecake ice cream will be missing that flavor.
4. Pour the ice cream base through a fine-mesh sieve into your ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The ice cream is best spun just before serving or using, but it will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
MAKES 1 (10-INCH) PIE; SERVES 8 TO 10
When we first opened Milk Bar, at 4 or 5 o’clock every morning we would make fresh cinnamon buns with liquid cheesecake rolled up into the dough instead of applying cream cheese frosting on top. Cinnamon buns are something I feel very strongly about, since my mother started a tradition of making (not-so-great) ones for breakfast on every holiday. (Sorry, Mom, but you can’t give a kid a Cinnabon and then expect her to be OK with cinnamon buns made with margarine and skim milk!) We’d make them before the crack of dawn so they’d be ready for breakfast … and then we’d sell most of them to people on their way home at night, ready to tuck in with dessert and some TV. So we decided to get smart and create something that was delicious, available, and fresh at any hour, and didn’t have to be made to order every morning: the cinnamon bun pie.
½ recipe Mother Dough, proofed
30 g flour, for dusting
[3 tablespoons]
80 g brown butter
[¼ cup]
1 recipe Liquid Cheesecake
60 g light brown sugar
[¼ cup tightly packed]
1 g kosher salt
[¼ teaspoon]
2 g ground cinnamon
[1 teaspoon]
1 recipe Cinnamon Streusel
While I tried to have the recipes in this book build chapter-by-chapter on those that came before, sometimes that wasn’t possible. So jump ahead and read about the mother dough before you get going on this pie.
1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Punch down and flatten the proofed dough.
3. Take a pinch of flour and throw it across the surface of a smooth dry countertop as if you were skipping a rock on water, to lightly coat the counter. Take another pinch of flour and lightly dust a rolling pin. Use the rolling pin to flatten the punched-down circle of dough, then roll out the dough with the rolling pin or stretch the dough out by hand as if you were making a pizza from scratch. Your end goal is to create a large circle that is approximately 11 inches in diameter. Keep your 10-inch pie tin nearby for reference. The 11-inch dough round should be ¼ to ½ inch thick.
4. Gently place the dough in the pie tin. Alternate between using your fingers and palms of your hands to press the dough firmly into place. Put the pie tin on a sheet pan.
5. Use the back of a spoon to spread half of the brown butter in an even layer over the dough.
6. Use the back of another spoon (you don’t want brown butter in your creamy white cheesecake layer!) to spread half the liquid cheesecake in an even layer over the brown butter. Spread the remaining brown butter in an even layer over the liquid cheesecake.
7. Scatter the brown sugar on top of the brown butter. Tamp it down with the back of your hand to help keep it in place. Then sprinkle evenly with the salt and cinnamon.
8. Now for the trickiest layer: the remaining liquid cheesecake. Stay cool, and spread it as gently as you can to achieve the most even layer possible.
9. Sprinkle the streusel evenly on top of the cheesecake layer. Use the back of your hand to secure the streusel.
10. Bake the pie for 40 minutes. The crust will puff and brown, the liquid cheesecake will set firm, and the streusel topping will crunch up and brown. After 40 minutes, gently shake the pan. The center of the pie should be slightly jiggly. The filling should be set toward the outer boundaries of the pie tin. If some of the filling erupted onto the sheet pan below, don’t worry—consider it a snack for later. If necessary, bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the pie meets the description above.
11. Cool the pie on a wire rack. To store, cool the pie completely and wrap well in plastic wrap. In the fridge, the pie will keep fresh for 3 days (the crust gets stale quickly); in the freezer, it will keep for 1 month.
12. When you are ready to serve the pie, know that it’s best served warm! Slice and microwave each slice on high for 30 seconds, or warm the whole pie in a 250°F oven for 10 to 20 minutes, then slice and serve.
MAKES ABOUT 120 G (¼ CUP)
40 g flour
[¼ cup]
20 g old-fashioned rolled oats
[¼ cup]
2 g ground cinnamon
[1 teaspoon]
1 g kosher salt
[¼ teaspoon]
30 g light brown sugar
[2 tablespoons]
25 g butter, melted
[2 tablespoons]
0.5 g vanilla extract
[⅛ teaspoon]
1. In a bowl combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, and brown sugar with a spoon or spatula until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Pour in the melted butter and vanilla and toss the mixture until almond-size dark oat clusters form.
2. If you’re making the pie the same day, the streusel can wait out on the counter. If you’re making the streusel in advance, transfer it to an airtight container and store in the fridge or freezer for up to 2 weeks.
MAKES 1 (6-INCH) LAYER CAKE, 5 TO 6 INCHES TALL; SERVES 6 TO 8
When we opened Ko, we did so with a deep-fried apple pie. It resonated so much with people that we decided to use the apple pie as inspiration for a cake. We already had the crumb-into-ganache-into-frosting down and we loved the pie crumb we had developed for a few Noodle Bar and Ko desserts seasons before.
This cake will make you seem like a genius, though all you are doing is layering apple pie fixins between layers of slightly nutty (with brown butter) cake. Leftovers make especially delicious impromptu cake truffles.
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
1 (6-inch) cake ring
2 strips acetate, each 3 inches wide and 20 inches long
1. Put a piece of parchment 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.
layer 1, the bottom
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 a 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.
layer 2, the middle
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 (if 1 of your 2 cake rounds is jankier than the other, use it here in the middle and save the prettier one for the top).
layer 3, 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.
MAKES 1 QUARTER SHEET PAN
55 g butter
[4 tablespoons (½ stick)]
40 g brown butter
[2 tablespoons]
250 g granulated sugar
[1¼ cups]
60 g light brown sugar
[¼ cup tightly packed]
3 eggs
110 g buttermilk
[½ cup]
65 g grapeseed oil
[⅓ cup]
2 g vanilla extract
[½ teaspoon]
185 g cake flour
[1½ cups]
4 g baking powder
[1 teaspoon]
4 g kosher salt
[1 teaspoon]
Pam or other nonstick cooking spray (optional)
There is a ton of liquid and fat in this amazing cake! If you do not do your due diligence to make sure that the batter is homogenous at each step (no streaks, discolorations, or other signs of separation/unincorporation), you’ll be sorry when your cake bakes out of its pan and all over the bottom of your oven.
1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. 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 once more.
3. 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.
4. On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together and 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 little lumps of cake flour are incorporated.
5. 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.
6. 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.
MAKES ABOUT 60 G (¼ CUP)
55 g apple cider
[¼ cup]
5 g light brown sugar
[1 teaspoon tightly packed]
0.25 g ground cinnamon
[pinch]
Whisk together the cider, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.
MAKES ABOUT 400 G (1¾ CUPS)
1 lemon
300 g Granny Smith apples
[2 medium]
14 g butter
[1 tablespoon]
150 g light brown sugar
[¼ cup tightly packed]
1 g ground cinnamon
[½ teaspoon]
1 g kosher salt
[¼ teaspoon]
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 (discard the lemon water) and combine them in a medium pot with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Slowly bring to 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.
MAKES ABOUT 220 G (¾ CUP), OR ENOUGH FOR 2 APPLE PIE LAYER CAKES
40 g butter, at room temperature
[3 tablespoons]
40 g confectioners’ sugar
[¼ cup]
It’s hard to make pie crumb frosting in a smaller batch. So make this and dip some apple slices in the extra frosting for a quick snack.
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.
SERVES 4
When I moved to NYC to attend cooking school, I dove right in. I got several part-time jobs in a variety of locales. Basically, I worked for anyone who would hire me. Early morning. Late night. Magnolia Bakery didn’t bite, but there was a bakery (now closed) in the West Village off Jane Street, run by a fiery Cuban woman who agreed to put me on the schedule.
After a late night of work as a hostess, I would drag myself in early the next morning to this strange bakery, almost the only motivation being a pastelito, a Cuban puff pastry topped with cane sugar and filled with guava paste and cream cheese. It was the most delicious and different pastry I had ever tasted, and I knew I’d want to use the flavor combo one day.
One time, when we were changing the menu at Ko and I was on a breakfast-inspired kick (guava and cream cheese is a classic breakfast pairing in many Spanish-speaking cultures), an idea took hold. I knew guava would bring the perfect acidity to a pre-dessert, and combining it with liquid cheesecake, which always makes me happy, was a no-brainer.
½ recipe Liquid Cheesecake
1 recipe Guava Sorbet
1 recipe Cream Cheese Skin
1. Use the back of a spoon to schmear a quarter of the liquid cheesecake into each of 4 bowls.
2. Make a quenelle or scoop of sorbet, transfer it to a clean spoon, and gently lower it into the cream cheese skin, then remove it immediately—the cold temperature of the guava sorbet will set the gelatin in the cream cheese mixture and create a “skin” around the sorbet. Place the enrobed sorbet in the center of 1 of the schmeared bowls. Repeat to make quenelles for the remaining bowls. Serve immediately.
MAKES ABOUT 425 G (1 PINT)
Fresh guava always tastes a little funny to me, but I love guava nectar, which is why we chose to use it here in place of making our own puree from scratch. Guava nectar is easily found in the Goya aisle of nearly any grocery store.
1 gelatin sheet
325 g guava nectar
[1¼ cups]
100 g glucose
[¼ cup]
0.25 g lime juice
[⅛ teaspoon]
1 g kosher salt
[¼ teaspoon]
Powdered gelatin can be substituted for the sheet gelatin: use ½ teaspoon. In a pinch, substitute 35 g (2 tablespoons) corn syrup for the glucose.
Instead of a whisk, use a hand blender to mix the sorbet base.
While making the sorbet base, taste it. Do you think it should be sweeter? Saltier? Add more glucose, lime juice, or salt if necessary to balance.
2. Warm a little bit of the guava nectar and whisk in the gelatin to dissolve. Whisk in the remaining guava nectar, the glucose, lime juice, and salt until everything is fully dissolved and incorporated.
3. Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The sorbet is best spun just before serving or using, but it will keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
MAKES ABOUT 150 G (¾ CUP)
This recipe is simple yet magical. It will make you look like you paid $30,000 for a fancy culinary education when you dip the guava sorbet in it. It must be made right before you are going to use it, or it will set hard in your fridge, and trying to melt it back down and get it back to the perfect temperature will be the bane of your existence—the opposite of setting yourself up for success.
3 gelatin sheets
55 g cream cheese
[2 ounces]
55 g milk
[¼ cup]
55 g heavy cream
[¼ cup]
25 g glucose
[1 tablespoon]
0.5 g kosher salt
[⅛ teaspoon]
Powdered gelatin can be substituted for the sheet gelatin: use 1½ teaspoons. In a pinch, substitute 9 g (2 teaspoons) corn syrup for the glucose.
Instead of a whisk, use a hand blender to mix the cream cheese skin.
2. Gently warm the cream cheese and milk in a small saucepan over low heat. When the mixture is very warm to the touch and just beginning to steam, remove it from heat, whisk in the bloomed gelatin, and watch it dissolve fully. Then whisk in the heavy cream, glucose, and salt.
3. Pour the contents of the pan into a deep round container (a plastic pint container works best) and leave it out on the counter while you gather your other elements to plate the dessert.
