Momofuku Grasshopper Pie

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated the holiday a little early by going out Friday night then bringing this deliciously festive dessert to a fondue party on Saturday night.

This is another creation from the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. And I'm not going to lie— after eating there in person, being able to frequent Momofuku in person is a real pro on the list for reasons to move to New York. Not that I should be making my future life decisions based on that, but it is something to keep in mind.

This pie involves several of Momofuku's recipes combined into one delicious grasshopper pie— graham cracker crust, brownie pie, and mint cheesecake filling— and does require quite a bit of time. But ultimately it's worth all of the effort.

Begin by making the graham cracker crust. Take 190 grams worth of graham crackers and crumble them until you 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs. Mix them together with 1/4 cup of milk powder, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium sized bowl. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter, and whisk the melted butter together with 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Combine the liquid and dry ingredients together (the liquid ingredients will act as a glue holding the crumbs together) until small clusters form. Press the wet clusters into a 9" pie pan, making sure to press them up the sides as well. You won't use all of the graham cracker crust right now, but reserve it for later.

Next create the brownie pie filling. Melt one 4 ounces bar of semi-sweet chocolate (72% cacao) with 6 tablespoons of butter in a microwave safe bowl on low power until smooth and shiny. Combine two eggs and 3/4 cup sugar and beat together with a stand mixer (or hand mixer if you don't have one or yours is still in the hospital needing repair as ours is) and whisk for at least 4 minutes on high until the mixture is light and fluffy and pale yellow in color. You will have to go a bit longer if you are using a hand mixer. Slowly add in the melted chocolate on low speed until all of the chocolate is incorporated. Add in 1/4 cup of flour, 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Once there are no more lumps of dry ingredients, add in 1/2 cup heavy cream and beat until just incorporated. Fold in the remaining graham cracker crumbles to give the pie some crunchy texture in the middle.

After the brownie pie filling is complete, it's time to make the mint cheesecake filling and begin preheating the oven to 350º. Melt two ounces of white chocolate chips with 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil on low power in the microwave, stirring until smooth. In a medium sized bowl, cream together 3 ounces of softened cream cheese and three tablespoons of powdered sugar until fluffy. Slowly add the white chocolate and oil mixture to the cream cheese and sugar mixture. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract in, as well as 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 3-4 drops of green food coloring until your desired greenness is reached.

Pour both into the graham crust— first the mint cheesecake filling then the brownie pie filling (you won't use all of the brownie pie filling, but you aren't supposed to here). Next the instructions say to swirl the two layers together, so the green cheesecake filling shows through, but we couldn't make it look pretty, so we just quit with that and left it alone.

Take two tablespoons worth of mini chocolate chips and arrange them in a ring in the middle of the pie leaving the bullseye center empty, as seen in the picture above. Take 1/2-2/3 cup of marshmallows and arrange them outside of the chocolate chip ring to the edge of the pie.

Bake the pie in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the outside is set, but the middle is still slightly jiggly. The marshmallows will have browned and toasted, and the  chocolate chips will have begun to melt as seen below. You will probably want to dig in about now, but it's not quite ready yet...

Allow the pie to completely cool before continuing with the final mint glazing. To make the glaze, melt one ounce of white chocolate and 2 teaspoons of grapeseed oil in a small microwave safe bowl. Add in 1/8 teaspoon of peppermint extract and a drop or two of green food coloring. Drizzle the glaze all over the top of the pie. The glaze should still be warm when you use it.

According to the cookbook, you should dunk the tines of a fork into the glaze then hold it about an inch over the pie to "Jackson Pollock" it and make it look really neat-o. Put the pie in the fridge for at least 15 minutes, so the glaze will harden before you slice and enjoy!