When I was in NY a few weeks ago, I stopped into Momofuku Milk Bar and sampled their candy bar pie. I cannot get this pie out of my mind. It was so very delicious. I decided to try to recreate it at home.
There is a Milk Bar cookbook with the recipe printed in it, but that would take the fun out things. I prefer to work things out on my own. So I did. Here is what I came up with. If anyone has the cookbook do a comparison and let me know how close I got.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the candy bar pie, it’s a chocolate cookie crumb crust filled with a layer of caramel, peanut butter nougat, and chocolate glaze, topped off by pretzel decorations. I think there is some sort of praline stirred into the nougat, which does add a lovely crunch, but I elected to skip this part, and substituted chopped dry roasted peanuts instead.
The results of my attempt are pretty close to the original, though a bit too sweet for my taste. I think I will try again, upping the amount of peanut butter in the nougat, and dramatically increasing the amount of dry roasted peanuts.
Candy Bar Pie (a Milk Bar replication)
Crust:
- 1 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
- 3 T. melted butter
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Mix crumbs with butter and pat into a pie pan so that it covers the bottom and comes halfway up the sides.
- Bake crust 10 minutes.
Caramel:
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 c. + 2 T. heavy cream
- 6 T. golden syrup
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Heat the cream with the vanilla. Set aside on low heat to keep warm.
- Heat the syrup with the sugar, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is mostly dissolved and it starts to boil. Stop stirring and brush down the sides of the pot with water to dissolve any sugar crystals.
- Boil to 305 F.
- Stir in the butter and salt, then slowly stir in he cream. The mixture will boil furiously and foam, and the temperature will drop.
- Continue stirring until the temperature has climbed back up to 245.
- Immediately pour caramel into the prepared cookie crust. DO NOT scrape the pot, or you will wind up with weird crunchy bits in your caramel. If it sticks to the pot it stays in the pot.
Peanut Butter Nougat:
(this makes way more nougat than you will need. Pour the rest into a buttered waxed paper lined 8-inch square pan and if you’re feeling adventurous, cut it into squares and dip it in chocolate, or just snack on it as is.)
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup golden syrup
- 1/3 c. water
- 1 egg white
- punch of cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 cups all-natural peanut butter, salted
- 2 cups dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
- Cook the sugar, syrup, and water until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly.
- Stop stirring, brush down the sides of the pan with water to remove any clinging sugar crystals.
- Clip a candy thermometer in the pot and increase the heat. Begin whipping the egg white.
- When the egg white is foamy, add the cream of tartar and keep beating until it holds firm peaks.
- When the sugar reaches 245, remove it from the heat, and slowly pour it into the egg white, beating constantly. Continue beating until the mixture thickens and becomes firm. Switch to low speed (and use a paddle beater if you’re using a stand mixer) and blend in the peanut butter and peanuts.
- Scoop 2 cups of the nougat on top of the caramel, and pat it out with your hands to make an even layer. Periodically running your hands under the faucet to make them damp will keep them from getting too sticky.
Chocolate Glaze:
- 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
- 1 T. golden syrup
- 2 T. butter
- Melt ingredients together over very low heat, stirring constantly.
- Pour glaze over the nougat.
Finishing touch:
(the original pie has the pretzels underneath the glaze. If you prefer it this way add them, then pour it over.)
- Arrange pretzels over the still warm glaze, as many as will fit.
- Allow pie to cool completely at room temperature. Slice thinly and serve.
Abby Made Me Do It 