American chef Christina Tosi has the simple-ingredients-in-weird-combinations dessert market cornered (salt and pepper cookie, anyone?).
The brains behind Milk Bar, an award-winning bakery and dessert chain attached to the Momofuku restaurant group, Tosi’s expanded what was once a New York City outpost famous for creations such as the Crack Pie (a gooey butter pie with a toasted oat crust) and Cereal Milk (think milk at the bottom of a cereal bowl) into an empire that now has 11 locations across North America, including one in Toronto.
Tosi hosted a series of pop-ups and book signings at the Drake Hotel this week to kick off the opening of a mini Milk Bar shop inside the Drake General Store. The Star caught up with her to talk about why she holds cookies above other dessert, how she comes up with new creations and what she thinks of using margarine instead of butter.
You have unique approach to desserts — it’s not fancy, and is very approachable. How did that develop?
One of the reasons I got out of the fine-dining restaurant game was because my voice through food is just much more casual than it is formal in the fine-dining element. For me, dessert is meant to be easy, grab-and-go, eat-it-in-your-PJs. I think just the spirit of a cookie shouldn’t be fussed over, you know? It’s something that you want to put in your bag and not worry about taking this beautiful delicate thing and destroying it. And I create dessert for the people. At Milk Bar, we have a very comfortably human, don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously spirit about what we do. You can just come and enjoy it at any moment in your life. We’re there to make it sweeter.
Where did your “desserts for the people” mantra come from?
I think it’s just something I’ve always believed in. I started off baking as a kid around my grandmother and my mom and my aunts and the way I was raised to think about food, especially baked goods is, you bake every day, you bake for people who are sick, you bake for people who are in need, who are a little down, and you just bake to bake, and then you just walk around the neighbourhood and just deliver the baked goods.
What did your mom or grandma bake that stands out in your memory?
My mom, it’s called gooey butter cake. It’s sort of like a cake-ier version of a butter tart, I’d say, it’s a specific specialty of St. Louis, and it’s largely the inspiration for what Crack Pie is. My grandma made this great oatmeal cookie dough, she’d roll it in dusting sugar and bake them so when the cookie bakes, it sort of crackles in this powdery white dust. They just taste like my favourite food memory.
What about cookies do you find so appealing over other desserts?
When I think about a cookie, in my imagination, there’s a world of endless possibilities. I’m always so intrigued by the fact that so many things can be a cookie. I like the sponginess of a cake, but I love the decadent fudginess of a cookie for some reason so much more. I love that it can have so many voices and points of view and personality to it. I love that there’s a humility to them, they’re kind of the underdog of the dessert world.
How do your come up with new cookie ideas?
A lot of my creativity and inspiration actually comes from being at home and baking, or walking around and seeing something awesome like a slice of apple pie and being like, “This should be a cookie!” I like to just peruse the aisles of the grocery store, because a cookie is meant to be this humble form and so you have to be careful, it should deliver a flavour or a food memory but you can’t get too fancy with the ingredients of it.
Do you have any tips for the casual or new baker?
I would say that many people get into their own heads when they’re trying to get into baking. They get into their own heads and have a philosophy or mentality, like, “This is hard,” or, “I can’t.” A cookie is the best way in, I believe, and I would say your secret weapon every time when you’re baking is using unsalted, European-style butter. It starts with really great ingredients, really great butter and just play around it. No one’s perfect with baking to begin with, it’s something you have to love and celebrate and be patient with, and everyone has the ability to be a great baker.
How do you feel about margarine in cookies?
My mom would always bake with margarine in cookies. We do not use margarine now. I haven’t seen a stick of margarine in a very long time, but I grew up on cookies with margarine in them and I never thought there was a problem until I grew up and was like, “What is this? Stop, use real butter.” If you’ve got margarine, you can still make a good cookie. It’s not going to be as good as the European-style, unsalted butter cookie, but you can get that cookie across the finish line if you use margarine.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
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