Momofuku Milk Bar Chocolate Chip Layer Cake Tips!

This post isn't a recipe for the Momofuku Milk Bar cake, its just me talking about things I found helpful while making this cake. I also list places you might look for the unconventional ingredients called for in the recipe. To see the recipes I used click here and here!

So for the passion fruit puree, I went to several different stores. I tried Publix first because they have a pretty good latin selection. I looked in their frozen section but they didn't have it. Although, the Public staff was so helpful! They went around the whole store with me trying to find alternatives. Sadly they didn't have it there, so I went to my local ethnic food store or Mexican Supermercado! They would have had it there but the owner said his freezer was broken so he hadn't ordered anything that needed to be frozen. There was a nice lady there though, and she said that she knew Walmart carried it for sure. So finally, I went to Walmart and found it there. You may need to go to the more ethnically diverse Walmarts in your area to find it. 

For the actual recipe, I left half of this block out and put the other half back in the freezer. You need about a quarter of the puree for the passion fruit curd and another quarter for moistening the cake. Make sure to leave the part you need for the cake in the fridge not the freezer! It needs to be liquid so you can dip your brush in it and moisten the cake. 

The recipe also calls for grape seed oil. I looked in several different supermarkets and either they didn't have any or they had little bottles that were very expensive. So it dawned on me that I had seen these bottles in a different store. TJ Maxx! I got this huge bottle for $12! They sometimes have smaller bottles as well for around $4 or $5. I also found the clear vanilla extract there. It was only $2.99.

The other item you may not have in your fridge is buttermilk. I found a single bottle at Publix, but you should be able to find it at any supermarket. They may only have one brand, but it should be there. Cake flour is another one of those items most people don't usually have unless you bake cakes all the time. Like the buttermilk, I was able to find it but they only had this one brand. 

The acetate for the cake building process was easy for me. I happened to have this pad of acetate sheets. What I did for the cake was tape two of these together to make one long strip that I cut once the cake was assembled inside. You want the acetate to come out higher than your cake ring but not so high that you have trouble assembling. Once you start assembling the cake you'll know what I mean. So this pad was about $7 vs a roll of acetate for baking that can run around $35.

This is what I used for a cake mold. It's a 6 inch springform pan. I used the circular insert as my guide. I cut my cake around it so that it fix inside the mold. Once I started assembling the cake I did not use the inner circle. Just the outer ring. 

I found this at Michaels for around $6. 

So that's it! Here's my cake after it was all said and done. 

If you have questions let me know down below! 

DIY Cake Stand

I was looking for a cake stand to put my fabulous Momofuku Milk Bar cake on but didn't want to spend 20 dollars for something I would only use once a year. So I made one! 

I bought this 6 inch clock surface. It was originally $4.99 but with my 40% off coupon it was only $2.99. 

Then I bought this mini pot for $.89! 

Then you just need to glue the two together. Ideally I would have used E6000 but couldn't find it so I used a mixture of Tacky Glue and hot glue. That did the trick. The hot glue holds the two pieces in place while the Tacky Glue dries. 

The pot and the clock piece are perfect for each other because they both have holes in the middle that tell you exactly where the middle of each piece is. 

 I drew a circle around the pot. 

Then I dotted Tacky Glue along the inside of the circle. 

After that, I dotted hot glue between the tacky glue and quickly placed the pot on top. 

I let the Tacky Glue dry completely for about 6 hours. To extra secure the glue I placed a heavy book on top while it dried. 

Once dry, I painted it with this metallic acrylic paint. You can paint it however you like.

Once dry, it was ready to use. I didn't paint the top of the clock surface since the food goes on top. You can if you want to. I also placed a circle of parchment paper on top before I placed the cake on the stand. 

It's that simple! 

Expedition Pinterest: Brownie in a Mug

So I went to dinner with my hubby today and the place where we went isn't known for their awesome desserts. Food yes, desserts, not so much. When we left the restaurant I had a huge craving for chocolate but there were no open places where I could go in and get chocolate cake except the grocery store but its such a hassle to get in and out quickly. When I got home I remembered I pinned something on Pinterest about making a brownie super quickly so I decided to give it a try.

Here's what I used:
4 tablespoons of flour
3 Heaping tablespoons of hot cocoa mix
1 tablespoon of milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of water and a pinch of salt

You'll also need a mug, a microwave, and something to stir with. The Pinterest recipe calls for 2 tablespoons plain cocoa powder and 4 tablespoons of sugar but I didn't have either so I improvised and hot cocoa mix already has sugar in it plus 4 tablespoons of sugar seems like a lot.

Basic directions:
Place dry ingredients in mug then add oil and water. Stir together until clumps flour are gone. Microwave for 50-60 seconds and voila!! You have a personal sized brownie!

Even with the substitutions I made it still turned out awesome!

Post a comment below if you tried out this pin or any other one that is worth trying.