july | august 2019 74
BIRTHDAY CAKE
Cake never really did it for Christina. She thought it was just OK, a
world of missed opportunities. When Christina opened the fi rst Milk
Bar in 2008, she knew it was time to create an amped-up cake that
always delivers. Her formula required that every element of the cake
must be delicious on its own so when the various elements (layers,
frosting, garnish) stack up in the fi nal product, it’s a symphony of
bold fl avor and stimulating texture. Lastly, no frosting on the sides
of the cake. Why would you want to cover all that ingenuity with a
thick coat of frosting? Christina wanted to let people in. It took her
and the Milk Bar team three years to create the perfect Birthday
Cake. The result? Three confetti sprinkle-studded vanilla- and
milk-soaked layers stacked up between heaps of made-from-scratch
frosting (inspired by the boxed supermarket stuff you grew up with)
and topped with Birthday Cake crumbs. •MILK BAR PIE
When she was just beginning her career, Christina worked at the
restaurant wd~50. Every Sunday, the kitchen staff came together
at the restaurant early for a potluck-style family meal. Christina
wanted to make a pie but didn’t have the ingredients to do so.
She was reading about pies from different regions and discovered
chess pie. Popular in the South, the recipe is perfect for when you
don’t have much left in the pantry. Christina loved the idea of it
and started baking, not really measuring. She made an oat cookie
crust and ground up freeze-dried corn to powder to add to the
fi lling. It never quite set while baking, but it smelled incredible.
She pulled it out of the oven and threw it in the freezer in hopes
that the fi lling would get thick enough for her to serve. That
night, she heard noises coming from the kitchen as everyone
took bites. People went crazy for the pie.
CEREAL MILK ICE CREAM
Christina was running the pastry program at David Chang’s
Momofuku restaurants and needed an easy dessert to put on the
menu. Panna cotta seemed like the best option, but she wanted to
create an upgraded panna cotta with a point of view. Christina,
who is obsessed with cereal, wanted the panna cotta to taste
like the milk at the bottom of a bowl of cornfl akes. She steeped
toasted cornfl akes in milk and poured it through a strainer to
create the magical ingredient. The dessert became such a hit at
Momofuku restaurants that when Christina was opening Milk
Bar, David suggested she make it into an ice cream. She whipped
up a Dairy Queen-style soft serve with milk, cornfl akes, brown
sugar, and salt. It was one of the fi rst items she put on the menu
at Milk Bar.