RMJcar's eatings: Momofuku Milk Bar Carrot Cake

Momofuku Milk Bar Carrot Cake

Again with the Momofuku Milk Bar layer cakes... yes!!! One of my new coworkers requested carrot cake for her birthday. I didn't want to give her just any carrot cake, but the best carrot cake I know. The carrot cake is layered with cheesecake, milk crumb, and graham cracker frosting. Here we go again!

I have already gone over the recipe for some of the components including the liquid cheesecake (look for the mint liquid cheesecake, and withhold the mint and food coloring), and graham cracker crust ((beginning of recipe).

Milk Crumb

Milk Crumb are these crunchy white chocolate clusters. I like to put the leftovers in greek yogurt. It's healthy right?

Original Recipe here: http://milkbarstore.com/main/menu/recipes-and-how-tos/#dulcecrumb

1. Preheat your oven to 250 degree Fahrenheit.

2. Combine the following in a small bowl (I just used a spoon) to mix:

40 grams of milk powder (powdered non-fat milk)
40 grams of all purpose flour
12 grams of corn starch
25 grams of granulated white sugar
1/2 a teaspoon of kosher salt

3. Melt half a stick of unsalted butter and pour it into the milk powder mixture. Mix until clusters form.

4. Place the clusters on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. I baked it at the same time as the graham cracker crust.

5. Break any larger clusters apart and let the whole thing cool. Once it cools, melt 90 grams of white chocolate. Combine the cooled clusters with 20 grams of additional milk powder.

6. Pour the melted white chocolate into the clusters and mix well.. Keep mixing every 5 minutes or so until the chocolate solidifies.

Carrot Cake

No recipe available online :(
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
2. Prep your ingredients.

In your stand mixer, place in room temperature unsalted butter, granulated white sugar, and brown sugar.

Have 2 eggs cracked and ready on standby.

Have neutral vegetable oil ready.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.

Have shredded carrots ready.

3. Cream the butter and sugars on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes.

4. Add in your eggs and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 more minutes.

5. Pour in the oil and mix on medium-high for 4 to 6 minutes until the mixture doubles in volume and turns very light.

6. On low, mix in the dry ingredients for the least amount of time possible. Extra mixing at this stage will toughen your cake. Cookies are suppose to be tough, not cakes!

7. Detach your bowl from the mixer. Fold in all the carrots.

8. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper and spray it with Pam.

I tried using just lining the sheet pan with just a silpat pad on a previous cake and found I had trouble getting the cake out.

9. Scoop and level all the cake batter into the sheet pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

10. Let the cake cool. As you might know, I cook the cake the day before, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it so I don't do everything in one day.

Graham Frosting

I love graham crackers. Creating frosting from graham crackers is even better. Milk Bar is known for taking one dessert and turning it into something else. Cereal milk ice cream anyone?
(No recipe available online :( )

1. Prep your ingredients. This includes placing half the graham cracker crust recipe referenced above with milk and salt in a blender. Looking back on it, I would cut the salt in half. Also put room temperature butter, brown sugar, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a stand mixture with a paddle attachment.

2. Blitz the graham cracker mixture until pureed.

3. Mix the contents of the mixture on medium-high for about 2-3 minutes when they should be combined and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

4. Mix in the blitzed graham cracker crust into the mixer on low for a minute. Turn up the speed to medium-high for 2 minutes. Scrape the edges.

Assembly

Assembling the cake is the best part. That is why I cannot emphasize enough, make as much as possible in the previous days! You will feel so much more zen. Cooking is suppose to be zen people!

1. Lay your cake onto a solid surface and cut out with a 6 inch cake ring:

A full cake round
As full of a cake round as possible
Some partial cake rounds that together with some other scrapes could form another layer

FYI, you will only need half the milk crumb for this cake. When I say 1/3 of the milk crumb, it really means 1/6 of the original. I just divide all the milk crumb in two before I assemble the cake.

2. Clean off the cake ring and place it in a small sheet pan. Line it with transparency paper. You've seen me do this already two times, so you know how it goes. Take the scrapes (3) and other pieces to form a full layer. Dab about 2 tablespoons of milk onto the layer with a brush.