Milk Bar: Birthday Cake Crumb

I’m sure many foodies had a similar Christmas nirvana experience and also received the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook for Christmas. If you did, you know the exact state of heaven I was in while reading it page-for-page, several times. The recipes are so brilliant and complicated yet doable. I usually page through a cookbook upon receiving it and put a post-it on the page that I deem worthy of being the first recipe I try…but this book was so different! I was tabbing the introduction pages (which I usually never read), googling ingredients, making shopping lists, and essentially mentally attacking every recipe at once. It took me forever to even choose where to start, and it kept me up at night, changing my mind over and over. I finally decided that I had to make an ingredient before I could make an entire recipe. This cookbook is made up of recipes that are building blocks to the recipes that follow them, so it’s almost impossible to make one thing without making another, first. Ordinarily this would frustrate the bejeezus out of me, but with Milk Bar, it just kept me intrigued.

So, I’m starting with “Birthday Cake Crumb.” A crumb is a building block or can be eaten on its own as an indulgent little treat. It can be mixed into cookie dough or into cake batter to give that classic “funfetti” look, which I absolutely love, yet rarely see in my own kitchen because I refuse to use boxed cake (that is NOT homemade!). Understandably, I was super excited to get to tackle something that would look like funfetti without opening a mix box.

~Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
~In a mixer with the paddle attachment, slowly mix the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles until well combined. Add the oil and vanilla and let the paddle incorporate the ingredients. They should all appear moistened and clumping. Dump the mix onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for about 20 min, breaking up the crumb occasionally. The crumb is done when it is only slightly moist to the touch, for it will harden and finish drying out as it cools.
~Keep the crumb in an airtight container for 1 week at room temp or 1 month in the fridge until you use it in a fabulous cookie or cake or eat it by the handful (or on ice cream!).
*I used all purpose unbleached flour because I didn’t have cake flour
**I used canola oil because I didn’t have grapeseed oil

Strike up a conversation: What would you do with Birthday Cake Crumb?