Momofuku Crack Pie

I've made Crack Pie before a few times with truly amazing results. This time, the filling separated so that the centre of the pie is a solid mass of fat sitting on top of the crumble crust. It looks as gross as it sounds and tastes worse. Actually, it tastes fine outside of the grease-zone. What happened?!? Any ideas?
Here are some other details which may help:
•I used the online version (which I've used before) from Momofuku For Two which is maybe nearly the exact same as the one from the Milk Bar book (which I've also used).
•I used the original measurements to make 2 pies.
•I froze the crumble crust and filling for the second pie (which I have also done before) and the 1st pie had the same problem but to a WAAAY lesser degree.
Has anyone else had this problem? Did I majorly screw up? Where and how?
In the pic you can see that the outer edge if the pie is caramelly coloured and that's the yummy part. The inner part is light tan with a bit of a crust on top with solid fat below that and the crust at the bottom.

Sylvia9000
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9 Comments

LeBec F.
LeBec F. February 1, 2014
well darn, syl, that was FRUStrating!I done wore out my Google finger! i'm officially giving up now, but i hope you get the answers you need eventually.
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 31, 2014
sylvia, did you see all these blog comments about baking it longer? and making sure it chilled a long time to firm up? seems that alot of people have had problems w/ the recipe....
http://thebostonfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/02/crack-pie.html
 
Sylvia9000
Sylvia9000 January 31, 2014
I've read quite a bit of that before tackling it the first time, but I should probably go back to that. I seem to remember a lot of people saying bale longer, and then a lot saying over-baking wrecks it. From the successes I've had in the past, I tend to agree it should be more gooey and less time is better.
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 31, 2014
sylvia, i looked at that recipe and thought about your proble. I am thinking that the problem is in the freezing of the filling. Sugar and its behavior is one of the most 'chemists need apply' topics in the world of baking. And i am def. not a chemist. But my guesses are that, as suggested before, the post-thawing stage needed to include vigorous paddle-mixing to get the filling to all come together again.
OR
the freezing does something negative to the filling such that it will not do what you want it to. My guess is the latter. Does Christine say you can freeze it? do you really gain that much time by freezing the filling? Maybe to save you some time, you could just measure and store some of the filling ingredients? after all, the crust is really the most labor intensive step, and freezing that is no issue.
 
Sylvia9000
Sylvia9000 January 31, 2014
Good thoughts. Here was my thinking and reasoning:
I've frozen in separate containers both the crust and the filling on multiple occasions in the past with no problems. I borrowed the Milk Bat book from the library last year so can't reference if Tosi addresses this just now, but maybe through "just trying" in the past, I found out it worked ok.
It wasn't so much as a time saver, but more of "this recipe makes two pies and can't easily be divided and I only need one pie now so I'll freeze the other halves and bake next week" kind of thing.
I think it might have to do proper incorporation of butter, yolk and sugar based on your thoughts and the thoughts above.
I didn't realize freezing sugar was such a thing! Thanks for your help! :)
 
rt21
rt21 January 31, 2014
The only thing that I can think if is was the butter too cool and not incorporated enough and is the thermostat on you're oven accurate !
It's very disheartening when you make something you know is good and it flops.
 
Sylvia9000
Sylvia9000 January 31, 2014
Good thoughts. My thermostat is pretty accurate, so not worried about that, but the butter temperature could be.
I can't say for sure, but I'll make sure I watch that better next time. Thank you!
 
LeBec F.
LeBec F. January 31, 2014
sylvia, always better to help us help you: give us a link so we can see the recipe!
 
Sylvia9000
Sylvia9000 January 31, 2014
Sorry! I overlooked that part :)

http://momofukufor2.com/2010/02/momofuku-milk-bar-crack-pie-recipe/
 
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