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Christina Tosi is the rule-breaking, award-winning chef and founder of Milk Bar, whose inventive and nostalgic treats have fueled a national dessert empire with 16 locations across the USA and products in grocery stores nationwide. Whether on Chef's Table, Master Chef, or social media, you'll often find Christina baking delicious pastries with enthusiasm and precision. Christina studied Math and continued her education at the French Culinary Institute. Christina is the author of three best-selling cookbooks.


In this lesson, you will follow along with Christina step by step and bake her Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie. She’ll walk you through the science of cookies, and all of the baking techniques she uses to get the best cookie results every time.

We recommend watching this lesson in the kitchen and following everything Christina does step by step in real time. If you’d rather watch the video in its entirety before baking your own cookies, that is okay too, it will just take a bit more time.

The recipe makes 15-20 cookies. You can print out the [ingredients and recipe](https://res.cloudinary.com/monthly/image/upload/v1649714166/monthly-admin-images/christina-tosi-baking/studio-tosi-project-cornflake-cookie.pdf) if you want to reference it while you watch the lesson. The recipe and ingredients you need are also listed just below.

### What you need

**Ingredients for the Cornflake Crunch:**

- 130g cornflakes
- 30g milk powder (⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp)
- 30g sugar (2 Tbsp + 1 tsp)
- 3g kosher salt (¾ tsp)
- 100g butter

**Ingredients for the Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie:**

- 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
- 250g granulated sugar (1 cup)
- 150g light brown sugar (3/4 cup tightly packed)
- 1 egg
- 2g vanilla extract (1⁄2 tsp)
- 260g flour
- 2g baking powder (1⁄2 tsp)
- 1.5g baking soda (1⁄2 tsp)
- 5g kosher salt (1 1⁄2 tsp)
- 125g mini chocolate chips
- 65g mini marshmallows

**Materials:**

- Stand mixer
- Kitchen scale
- Small and medium bowls and containers
- Spatula
- 2 ¾ oz cookie scoop or 1⁄3 cup measure
- Parchment paper
- Sheet pan

### What to do

**Make the Cornflake Crunch (30 minutes)**

1.  Heat the oven to 275° F (135° C).
    - If you’re using an oven thermometer, check to make sure that your oven is at the correct temperature.
2.  Pour the cornflakes in a medium bowl and crush them with your hands to a half of their original size.
3.  Add the milk powder, sugar, and salt and toss to mix.
4.  Melt your butter into liquid form, using either a microwave or a stove.
5.  Add the butter and toss to coat until everything seems evenly coated.
6.  Using your fingers or a spatula, spread the mixture evenly on a parchment paper lined sheet pan.
7.  Bake for 20 minutes, at which point your cornflakes and milk powder should look golden brown, smell buttery, and crunch gently when chewed after they cool.
8.  While you wait, clean up your workstation. If you’re planning on making the cookies immediately after the crunch, you can also prepare all of your ingredients and equipment for the cookies.
    - Make sure to take your two sticks of butter out of the fridge so that they reach room temperature.
9.  Set your Cornflake Crunch aside to cool. While it cools, you can start preparing your cookie dough. Or, if you are planning on making your cookies later, let the crunch cool and then store it.
    - Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, the crunch will keep fresh for 1 week; in the fridge or freezer it will keep for 1 month.
    - If you don’t have time to make your cookies now you can pause here, store your Cornflake Crunch, and continue on later.

_Checkpoint 1: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Make your cookie dough (15 minutes)**

1.  Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C), and check the temperature with your oven thermometer if using.
2.  If your butter is still colder than room temperature, you can microwave it in increments of no more than 5 seconds. Do not melt your butter in the microwave - it is better to use slightly colder butter than melted butter in this recipe.
3.  Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes.
4.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle, add the egg and vanilla, and beat on high for 7 to 8 minutes.
    - Check on your mixture every few minutes and scrape down the paddle and sides of the bowl as needed.
    - When you are done, scrape down the paddle and sides one final time.
5.  Measure your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and mix them with a spoon in a separate container.
6.  Add your dry ingredients and set mixer speed to low. Mix just until the ingredients are evenly distributed, or for about 15-45 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
    - It’s ok if your dough is a bit shaggy at this point! Your dough will mix for more time after you add in your mix-ins.
7.  Add your Cornflake Crunch, mini chocolate chips, and mini marshmallows.
8.  On low speed, mix just until mix-ins are incorporated, no more than 30 to 45 seconds.

**Make and assess a tester cookie (15 minutes)**

1.  Using a 2 ¾ oz ice cream scoop (or a 1⁄3 cup measure), scoop one portion of your dough onto a parchment-lined sheet pan.
2.  Put the cookie in the oven and set a timer for 12 minutes.
3.  While you wait, you should start the instructions below to scoop and refrigerate the rest of your cookies.
4.  At the 12 minute mark, take out your cookie and look at it. The cookie should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown toward the center. You can refer to Christina’s cookie to know how yours should look.
    - If your cookie is too light, leave it in the oven for a minute at a time until it is the color you want.
    - If your cookie is too dark, make sure to bake your full batch of cookies for less than 12 minutes next time.

**Scoop and refrigerate your dough (5 minutes + 1 hour of fridge time)**

1.  Scoop your cookie dough onto parchment-lined sheet pans using your 2 ¾ oz ice cream scoop (or a 1⁄3 cup measure) a minimum of 3 inches apart.
2.  Pat the tops of the cookie dough domes flat with your hand.
3.  Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 1 week. If you bake your cookies from room temperature, they will spread more and bake flatter than intended.

_Checkpoint 2: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Bake your full batch of cookies (15 minutes)**

1.  Be sure to preheat the oven to your ideal temperature. This should be around 375° F (190° C).
2.  Bake for your ideal time, around 12-15 minutes, as determined by the tester assessment.
    - Be sure to account for any hot spots in your oven by rotating the pan halfway through baking.
    - Remember, it’s always safer to bake for less time because you can always put the cookies back in the oven, but you can’t undo an over-baked cookie.


Follow-Along: Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie

Christina teaches how to come up with your own personal, original recipes, by developing a "flavor story" unique to your experiences and taste.

Creative Baking & Finding a Flavor Story

Christina explains how to incorporate your flavor story into your cookie and plan prototypes.

 Planning the Prototypes

Christina talks through her ingredient selection process, shopping in her pantry for items that might tell her flavor story, and considering how.

Selecting Ingredients

Christina teaches how to bring a flavor story to life by constructing and assessing prototypes.

Prototype Prep & Making a Custom Dough Base

Christina starts creating her new cookie by assembling several prototype cookies made of ingredients that fit her flavor story.

Creating Cookie Prototypes

Christina improves her new recipe even more using her assessing and iterating process to taste and improve each element.

Assessing and Iterating

Christina teaches how to take the original cookie recipe to the next level by refining and improving the interplay of mix-ins.

Refining and Writing the Recipe


In this lesson, you’ll follow along with Christina step by step to bake the Milk Bar Pie, her signature egg-set pie with a buttery, gooey center. Along the way, she’ll explain the science of pies and the baking techniques she uses to get the best results every time.

We recommend watching this lesson in the kitchen and following everything Christina does step by step in real time. If you’d rather watch the video in its entirety before baking your own pie, that is okay too, it will just take a bit more time.

The recipe below makes 1 Milk Bar Pie plus an additional full pie crust’s worth of oat cookie mixture to save for your pie prototyping in later bakes. You can print out the [ingredients and recipe](https://res.cloudinary.com/monthly/image/upload/v1649714166/monthly-admin-images/christina-tosi-baking/studio-tosi-milk-bar-pie.pdf) if you want to reference it while you watch the lesson. The recipes you need, including ingredients and materials, are also listed just below.

### What You Need

**Ingredients for the Oat Cookie (makes 2 pie crusts):**

- 115g unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
- 75g light brown sugar
- 40g granulated sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 80g all-purpose flour
- 120g old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2g kosher salt (1/2 tsp)
- 0.5g baking powder (1/8 tsp)
- 0.25g baking soda (a pinch)

**Ingredients for the Milk Bar Pie filling:**

- 150g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
- 90g light brown sugar (1/2 cup)
- 10g milk powder (2 Tbsp)
- 12g freeze-dried corn powder (2 Tbsp)
- 3g kosher salt (3/4 tsp)
- 115g unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- 4 egg yolks
- 80g heavy cream (1/3 cup)
- 1g vanilla extract (1/4 tsp)

**Ingredients for pie assembly:**

- 1 recipe Oat Cookie (see above)
- 27g unsalted butter, melted (2 Tbsp), plus an additional 7-14g as needed (1/2 to 1 Tbsp)
- 7g light brown sugar (1 Tbsp tightly packed)
- 1g salt (1/4 tsp)
- 1 recipe Milk Bar Pie filling (see above)
- Confectioner’s sugar (for dusting)

### **Materials**

- Stand mixer + paddle attachment
- Kitchen scale
- Small and medium bowls and containers
- Rubber spatula
- 10″ aluminum pie tin (9″ is okay too)
- Quarter sheet pan
- Parchment paper
- Non-stick cooking spray
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Oven thermometer (optional)
- Gem scale (optional)
- Sieve or shaker for powdered sugar (optional)

### What To Do

**Make the Oat Cookie (25 minutes, makes enough for two pie crusts)**

1.  Preheat the oven to 350° F (177° C).
    - If you’re using an oven thermometer, check to make sure that your oven is at the correct temperature, and adjust as needed.
2.  Let you butter reach room temperature, either by leaving it out for 30-60 minutes, or by microwaving it in 5 second increments (remember, you should not use melted butter for cookie dough).
3.  Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula halfway through. When the mixture is fluffy and pale yellow in color, stop the mixer and scrape down the sides one more time.
4.  Crack your egg and separate your egg yolk from the white using two containers.
    - We recommend you follow Christina’s method for separating the egg whites and yolks by hand. Be sure to wash your hands after handling raw eggs. You can save your egg whites for other recipes.
5.  Add the egg yolk and mix on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes until the sugar granules fully dissolve and the mixture is a glossy, very pale tan.
    - Scrape down the sides of the bowl and if you see any lingering pockets of butter or sugar, cream for 1 more minute.
6.  Combine the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a separate bowl or container and stir together to combine. Add this dry mixture to your creamed wet ingredients and mix just until your dough comes together and you start to see all of the flour disappear, no longer than a minute.
    - Finish incorporating the dry ingredients by hand with a rubber spatula, scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go.
    - The dough will be a fluffier, fattier mixture than your average cookie dough.
7.  Spray a quarter sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray in an X across the diagonals, line with parchment, then spray the parchment completely (you can also line the pan with a non-stick baking mat like a Silpat instead).
8.  Plop the cookie dough in the center of the pan and, with a spatula or leftover butter paper, spread it out until it is about 1/4 inch thick (the dough might not cover the entire pan).
9.  Bake for 15 minutes, checking after 12 minutes and rotating the pan if the cookie is browning unevenly. Continue to bake until the cookie mixture is caramelized on top and slightly puffed, but set firmly. Cool completely before using.
    - Wrapped well in plastic, the Oat Cookie will keep fresh in the fridge for up to 1 week.
    - While the cookie is baking, you can begin making the Milk Bar Pie filling if you’re planning to making it immediately afterward.

_Checkpoint 1: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Make your Milk Bar Pie filling (15 minutes)**

1.  Combine the sugar, brown sugar, milk powder, corn powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
2.  Melt your butter into liquid form, using either a microwave or a stove.
3.  Add the melted butter and paddle on the lowest possible speed for 2 to 3 minutes until all the dry ingredients are fully moistened. Then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4.  Add the egg yolks one at a time as the mixer runs on the lowest speed for about a minute. Be careful not to aerate the mixture, but be certain the mixture is glossy and homogeneous. Scrape down the sides of your bowl.
5.  Combine the heavy cream and vanilla in a small container and slowly stream it into the yolk mixture, continuing to paddle on low for 2 to 3 minutes until any white streaks from the cream have completely disappeared.
    - Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle with a spatula and mix for a final minute or two.
6.  Use the filling right away, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

_Checkpoint 2: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Assemble and bake your pie (15 minutes assembly + 30 minutes baking + 1-3 hours of freezing)**

1.  Heat the oven to 350°F (177°C).
2.  Put the Oat Cookie in a food processor and pulse it on and off until the cookie is broken down into a wet sand-like texture (less than a minute).
    - If you don’t have a food processor, you can crumble the Oat Cookie with your hands.
3.  Transfer the crumbs to a bowl, and add your salt and light brown sugar.
4.  Add the melted butter, and toss the mixture together with a spatula until it is moist enough to hold together when squeezed in your hands.
    - If it is not moist enough yet, add more butter until it holds together when squeezed.
5.  Using your fingers and hands, press half of the Oat Cookie mixture firmly into the pie tin, making sure the bottom and sides of the tin are evenly covered.
    - Use the pie shell immediately, or wrap well in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
    - You can save the other half of the Oat Cookie mixture in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days, or in the fridge up to 2 weeks.
6.  Pour in the Milk Bar Pie filling, which should fill the crust three-quarters of the way. Bake for 15 minutes until the pie is golden brown around the outside and light brown in the center but still very jiggly.
    - If the pie isn’t brown yet, add up to 5 more minutes until you’ve reached the right color.
7.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (163°C) and bake the pie for another 15 minutes.
    - You can keep the oven door open (no longer than a minute) if you want to cool it down to 325° F more rapidly, but you don’t have to.
    - When done, the pie filling should have a deep golden brown color, and should jiggle only in the center when you gently shake it.
8.  Transfer the baked pie to a rack and cool to room temperature.
    - You can speed up the cooling process by carefully transferring the pies to the fridge or freezer if you’re in a hurry).
9.  Transfer the pie to a quarter sheet pan and freeze for at least 1-3 hours, or overnight, to condense the filling for a dense final product—freezing is the signature technique of a perfectly executed Milk Bar Pie.

_Checkpoint 3: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Defrost and serve your pie (5 minutes of prep)**

1.  To release your pie from the tin, carefully flip it onto a cutting board and peel the tin off the bottom.
    - If you used a glass baking dish, you can pop the pie out the same way, using a spatula to help get the pie out.
2.  Decorate your pie with confectioners’ sugar, either passing it through a fine sieve or sprinkled by hand.
3.  Cut your pie into 8 pieces with a sharp chef’s knife, and put the pie back in another tin, on a platter, or wrap the pieces individually to distribute to some very lucky friends and family.
4.  If not serving the pie right away, wrap well in plastic wrap. In the fridge, it will keep fresh for 5 days; in the freezer, it will keep for 1 month.
5.  Serve the pie cold from the fridge, and eat it with your hands like a pizza if you truly want to do it Tosi-style\!


Follow-Along: Milk Bar Pie

Christina shows how she uses her research and development process to choose a compelling flavor story for her new pie recipe.

Choosing a Pie Flavor Story

Christina tries different ways to bring her flavor story to life by creating a tray of bite-sized pie prototypes.

Creating Pie Prototypes

Christina finalizes her new recipe by choosing her favorite prototypes, refining them, and writing down the steps.

Assessing the Prototypes

Christina shows how she finalizes a pie recipe by refining her favorite prototype and writing out the steps.


In this lesson, you will follow along with Christina step by step and bake Milk Bar’s famous Birthday Layer Cake. She’ll walk you through the role of each component of a layer cake — the sponge, soak, frosting, and crumb — plus the baking and assembly techniques she uses to get an impressive result every time.

We recommend watching this lesson in the kitchen and following along with Christina in real time. If you’d rather watch the full video before baking your own cake, that’s okay too, it will just take a bit more time.

You can print out the [recipe](https://res.cloudinary.com/monthly/image/upload/v1649714166/monthly-admin-images/christina-tosi-baking/studio-tosi-birthday-layer-cake.pdf) if you want to reference it while you make your cake. The recipe — including all of the ingredients, materials, and instructions — is also listed just below. All of the quantities for the subrecipes are just enough to make a single layer cake.

### What you need:

**Ingredients for Birthday Cake Soak (makes 60 g or 1/4 cup)**

- 55 g whole milk (1/4 cup)
- 4 g clear vanilla extract (1 tsp)

**Ingredients for Birthday Cake Crumb (makes 275 g or 2 1/4 cups)**

- 100 g granulated sugar (1/2 cup)
- 25 g light brown sugar (1 1/2 Tbsp, tightly packed)
- 90 g cake flour (3/4 cup)
- 2 g baking powder (1/2 tsp)
- 2 g kosher salt (1/2 tsp)
- 20 g rainbow sprinkles (2 Tbsp)
- 40 g grapeseed oil (1/4 cup, can substitute with vegetable or canola oil)
- 12 g clear vanilla extract (1 Tbsp)

**Ingredients for Birthday Cake Sponge (makes 1 quarter sheet pan)**

- 55 g unsalted butter, at room temperature (4 Tbsp or 1/2 stick)
- 60 g vegetable shortening (1/3 cup)
- 250 g granulated sugar (1 1/4 cups)
- 50 g light brown sugar (3 Tbsp, tightly packed)
- 3 eggs
- 65 g grapeseed oil (1/3 cup, can substitute with vegetable or canola oil)
- 110 g buttermilk (1/2 cup)
- 8 g clear vanilla extract (2 tsp)
- 245 g cake flour (2 cups)
- 6 g baking powder (1 1/2 tsp)
- 3 g kosher salt (3/4 tsp)
- 50 g rainbow sprinkles for batter (1/4 cup)
- 25 g rainbow sprinkles for sprinkling on cake (2 Tbsp)

**Ingredients for Birthday Cake Frosting (makes 430 g or 2 cups)**

- 115 g unsalted butter, at room temperature (8 Tbsp or 1 stick)
- 50 g vegetable shortening (1/4 cup)
- 55 g cream cheese, at room temperature (1/4 cup or 2 oz)
- 25 g glucose (1 Tbsp)
- 18 g light corn syrup (1 Tbsp)
- 12 g clear vanilla extract (1 Tbsp)
- 200 g confectioners’ sugar (1 1/4 cups)
- 2 g kosher salt (1/2 tsp)
- 0.25 g baking powder (a pinch)
- 0.25 g citric acid (a pinch)

**Ingredients for layer cake assembly (makes 1 cake)**

- 1 recipe Birthday Cake Soak
- 1 recipe Birthday Cake Crumb
- 1 recipe Birthday Cake Sponge
- 1 recipe Brithday Cake Frosting

**Materials**

- Stand mixer + paddle attachment
- Kitchen scale
- Small and medium bowls and containers
- Rubber spatula
- 2 quarter sheet pans
- Parchment paper
- Non-stick cooking spray
- 6-inch cake ring
- 5- or 6-inch tall acetate strips (or 3- to 4-inch; tape two pieces together for 5-6 inches)
- Chef’s knife
- Gem scale (optional)
- Oven thermometer (optional)
- 8-inch cardboard round (optional)

### What to do:

**Make the Birthday Cake Soak (5 minutes)**

1.  Swirl or mix the milk and vanilla together in a small container or bowl. Set aside.

**Make the Birthday Crumb (30 minutes)**

1.  Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
    - If you have an oven thermometer, check to make sure that your oven is at the correct temperature.
2.  Combine the sugars, cake flour, baking powder, salt, and rainbow sprinkles in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on low speed until well combined.
    - You can gauge when your ingredients are mixed based on the distribution of sprinkles throughout the mixture.
3.  Combine the oil and vanilla in a small container or bowl and mix them together. Then with your mixer on low speed, stream the oil and vanilla in as close to the middle of the bowl as possible.
    - The wet ingredients will act as glue to help the dry ingredients form small clusters, so continue paddling until these clusters appear. The largest crumbs should be no larger than a half-inch in diameter.
    - Check the bottom of the bowl for any lingering dry ingredients and fold them in with a spatula.
4.  Pour the crumb out onto a quarter sheet pan lined with parchment. Use your fingertips to spread the crumb out evenly.
5.  Bake for 20 minutes, then check to make sure they are browning very slightly. The crumbs should contract just a bit to form individual boulder shapes when they’re done—if they haven’t yet, leave them in the oven for another two or three minutes.
    - If you plan on baking your cake sponge immediately afterward, you can clean up your space and start preparing the sponge recipe as the crumb bakes.
6.  Let the crumb cool completely before using in a recipe. Stored in an airtight container, the crumb will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.

_Checkpoint 1: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Bake the Birthday Cake Sponge (45 minutes)**

1.  Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
2.  Combine the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2-3 minutes, just until it all comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3.  Crack the eggs into a small container. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time with your mixer on low speed, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. After you add each egg, you can increase the speed to high for a few seconds to help the ingredients incorporate.
4.  Mix on high for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more, looking for any streaks of ingredients that haven’t been incorporated.
    - When it’s done, the mixture should be light tan, glossy, and homogenous. If it looks like the ingredients are still distinct and trying to separate, cream for another 2-3 minutes. It’s okay to see some sugar granules in the mixture.
5.  On low speed, stream in the grapeseed oil toward the center of the bowl and then switch to high speed and paddle for 3-6 minutes until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of the original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogenous.
6.  Turn down your mixer to low speed and stream in the buttermilk and vanilla just a little at a time until fully incorporated.
7.  Combine the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and 50 g rainbow sprinkles in a medium container or bowl and mix with a spoon. Add the dry ingredients into your mixing bowl. On the lowest mixer speed, mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until the dry ingredients are well distributed.
    - Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl thoroughly to ensure the batter is fully mixed. If not, keep lightly working the batter with your spatula until any dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
8.  Spray a quarter sheet pan with baking spray in an ‘X’, line it with parchment, and spray the top of the parchment and the sides of your pan.
9.  Pour the batter into the prepared quarter sheet pan and, using a spatula, knife, or the back of a spoon, spread the cake batter in an even layer.
10. Sprinkle the remaining 25 g rainbow sprinkles evenly on top of the batter.
11. Bake the cake for 30 minutes, checking intermittently for uneven browning. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size.
    - At 15 minutes, take a look at the cake with your oven light to see if any areas are browning more than others. If so, very gently rotate the cake in the oven (intense movement can cause your cake to deflate). For the next 15 minutes, you can check on the cake with the oven door closed every 5-10 minutes and rotate if you see uneven browning.
    - If you notice the cake is getting too much color on top but isn’t set in the center yet, you can reduce the oven temperature to 325°F until the cake is baked through.
    - At 30 minutes, use your finger to gently poke around the outside and center of the cake. It should bounce back very slightly and not be jiggly at all. Leave the cake in the oven for an extra 3-5 minutes if it doesn’t pass these tests.
12. When baked through, remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 5 days.

_Checkpoint 2: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Make the Birthday Cake Frosting (15 minutes)**

1.  Combine the butter, shortening, and cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on high for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
2.  Add the glucose, corn syrup, and clear vanilla extract and paddle on low speed until fully incorporated. Crank the mixer up to high and beat for about a minute until the mixture is silky smooth, glossy, and white. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
    - Pro Tip: Spray a spoon and small container with cooking spray to help measure your glucose so it doesn’t stick too much.
3.  Combine the confectioners’ sugar, salt, baking powder, and citric acid in a container or bowl and add to the stand mixer bowl. Start on low, then crank the speed up to high and mix for 3 minutes or until you have a stark white, beautifully smooth and fluffy frosting. It should look just like it came out of a plastic tub at the grocery store\!
    - Use the frosting immediately, or store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

_Checkpoint 3: You can pause here if you’d rather continue later today or tomorrow._

**Birthday Layer Cake Assembly (30 minutes + 3 hours of freezer time)**

1.  Lay out all of the components of your cake:
    - 1 recipe Birthday Cake Soak
    - 1 recipe Birthday Cake Crumb
    - 1 recipe Birthday Cake Sponge
    - 1 recipe Birthday Cake Frosting
2.  Place your cooled sponge on the counter and, using a sharp paring knife, the back of a spoon, or a bench scraper, loosen the cake from the sides of the sheet pan.
3.  Place a piece of parchment or a baking mat on the counter and invert the cake onto it, giving the far edge of your overturned pan a sharp rap on the counter to release the cake (refer to the video to see how Christina does it). Peel off the parchment stuck to the cake and discard it.
4.  Use your cake ring to stamp out 2 circles from the cake, one from the upper right-hand corner and one from the lower left-hand corner (or lower right-hand and upper left-hand corners), which will form the top and middle layer of the cake. Refer to the video to see how Christina does this.
    - Make sure to plan out your circles to make sure you know exactly where to stamp before completing this step — you can mark them lightly on your sponge using your cake ring.
    - Use the ring to stamp out two half-circles from the remaining sponge, which will come together to make the bottom layer of the cake.
5.  Clean the cake ring and place it on the 8-inch cardboard round, or any other cake board, platter, or parchment-lined pan.
6.  Use 1 strip of 5-6″ tall acetate to line the inside of the cake ring. If your acetate strips are shorter than 5 inches, you can add a second one once your cake is built up high enough (we’ll tell you when to do this below).
7.  Place the two half circles of cake together inside the ring, spongey (not browned) side up, and fill the gap between them with additional pieces of cake scrap. Use the back of your fingers to press the scraps together into a flat, even layer.
8.  Using a spoon or a pastry brush, splash or brush half the soak over the bottom layer of cake.
9.  Spread one fifth of the frosting in an even layer over the cake using the back of a small spoon that fits into the acetate collar, or a spoon you’ve bent into a ladle-like shape.
    - Use figure-8 motions and try to not pick up your spoon as you work.
10. Sprinkle smaller pieces of crumb making up a third of the total crumb evenly over the frosting. You’ll want to save the bigger pieces of crumb for the top of the cake. Anchor the crumbs into place in the frosting using the back of your fingers.
11. Use the back of a spoon to spread another fifth of the birthday cake frosting as evenly as possible over the crumb. You should see some crumb peeking through the frosting.
12. Place your middle cake layer on top of the frosting, passing it through the acetate collar at an angle to help it nestle into place.
    - If one of the two cake rounds left looks nicer, save it for the final layer and use the other one in the middle.
    - If you’re using two shorter pieces of acetate, you can now add your second piece. Gently tuck a second strip of acetate between the cake ring and the top of the first strip of acetate, so that you have an acetate collar that is 5-6″ inches tall.
13. Add some crumb scraps along the edges of your cake if you see any gaps or areas where frosting is coming up and press down with your fingers.
14. Repeat the process of splashing or brushing the layer with the remaining soak, spreading it with one fifth of the frosting, sprinkling one third of the crumb (still reserving the biggest ones for the top), and finishing with another fifth of the frosting.
15. Nestle the remaining cake round onto the frosting. Cover the top of the cake with the remaining frosting and add any desired visual effects like spikes, swirls, or a flat surface using a spoon, knife, or offset spatula.
16. Garnish the frosting with the remaining crumb or rainbow sprinkles.
17. Transfer the cake to the freezer and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours (or overnight) to set the cake and filling. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
18. At least 3 hours before you are ready to serve the cake, pull the cake out of the freezer and slide off the cake ring. If you need to, use your fingers and thumbs to pop the cake out of the ring.
19. Gently peel off the acetate and transfer the cake to a platter or cake stand, or whatever you want to serve it on. Let it defrost for 2-3 hours. Wrapped well in plastic, the cake can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.
20. When the cake is fully thawed, slice and serve to lucky friends and family\!


Follow-Along: Birthday Layer Cake

Christina shows how to create a compelling original cake recipe by selecting a strong flavor story and choosing the right ingredients to prototype with.

Choosing a Cake Flavor Story & Ingredients

Christina starts determining what ingredient combinations will best tell the flavor story by creating prototype bites.

Creating Cake Prototypes

Finalizing the Layer Cake Recipe

Learn everything you need to develop your own original cookie, pie, and cake recipes. In this class, Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi takes you into her studio and teaches you her step-by-step recipe development process — the same process she uses with her team at Milk Bar. Follow along as she develops 3 brand new recipes from start to finish, right in front of you, explaining everything she’s doing along the way.

Creative Baking: The Complete Guide To Developing Your Own Original Dessert Recipes

Christina introduces the form, key components, and ingredients of truffles.

Overview of Cake Truffles

Christina introduces you to flavor stories and how a truffle can bring you back to a memory, place, or a particular food.

The Flavor Story of a Truffle


In this lesson, you will follow along with Christina step by step and bake her Birthday Cake Truffles. She’ll walk you through all of the techniques she uses to get the best cake truffle results every time.

We recommend watching this lesson in the kitchen and following everything Christina does step by step in real time. If you’d rather watch the video in its entirety before baking your own truffles, that is okay too, it will just take a bit more time.

The recipe makes about a dozen truffles. You can print out the [ingredients and recipe](https://res.cloudinary.com/monthly/image/upload/v1672764568/monthly-admin-images/christina-tosi-snackable-baking/recipes/Birthday_Cake_Truffles.pdf) if you want to reference it while you watch the lesson. The recipe and ingredients you need are also listed just below.

### Ingredients

_Yields about a dozen 1-oz truffles_

**For the Birthday Cake:**

- 4 Tbsp butter, at room temperature [55g]
- 1/3 cup vegetable shortening [60g]
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar [250g]
- 3 Tbsp light brown sugar, tightly packed [50g]
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp clear vanilla extract [8g]
- 1/3 cup grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil) [65g]
- 1/2 cup buttermilk [110g]
- 2 cups cake flour [245g]
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder [6g]
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt [3g]
- 1/4 cup rainbow sprinkles, for dough [50g]
- 2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles, for sprinkling on top [25g]

**For the Birthday Sand:**

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar [100g]
- 2 Tbsp light brown sugar, tightly packed [33g]
- 1 1/3 cup cake flour [160g]
- 2 Tbsp rainbow sprinkles [25g]
- 1/2 tsp baking powder [2g]
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt [2g]
- 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil) [20g]
- 2 tsp clear vanilla extract [8g]

**For the Vanilla Milk:**

- 1 cup milk [220g]
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp clear vanilla extract [16g]

**For the Chocolate Coating:**

- 12oz white chocolate (melted) [350g]
- 2 Tbsp grapeseed oil (or other neutral oil) [20g]


### Step 1: Birthday Cake

_Yields 1 Quarter Sheet Pan_

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Combine the butter, shortening, and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the eggs, and mix on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl once more.
3. On low speed, stream in the vanilla and oil. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 3-4 minutes. Then, stream in your buttermilk and mix until it is evenly incorporated. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid — if there are, continue mixing. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. On very low speed, add the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and the 50g (¼ cup) rainbow sprinkles. Mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Pam-spray a quarter sheet pan and line it with parchment, or just line the pan with a silpat. Using a spatula, spread the cake batter in an even layer in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining 25g (2 tablespoons) rainbow sprinkles evenly on top of the batter.
6. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly buttery and dense. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger: the cake should bounce back slightly and the center should no longer be jiggly. Leave the cake in the oven for an extra 3 to 5 minutes if it doesn’t pass these tests.
7. Take the cake out of the oven and cool on a wire rack or, in a pinch, in the fridge or freezer (don’t worry, it’s not cheating). The cooled cake can be stored in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days.

### Step 2: Birthday Sand

1. Heat the oven to 300°F.
2. Combine the sugars, flour, baking powder, salt, and sprinkles in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until well combined.
3. Add the oil and vanilla and paddle again to distribute. The wet ingredients will act as glue to help the dry ingredients form small sandy clusters; continue paddling until that happens.
4. Toss the sand evenly onto a quarter sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. 
6. Let the crumbs cool completely before using. Grind down in a food processor if the crumbs are not small and sandy enough (they will not glue to the white chocolate coating in the birthday cake truffle recipe!). Stored in an airtight container, the sand will keep fresh for 1 week at room temperature or 1 month in the fridge or freezer.

### Step 3: Vanilla Milk

1. Whisk together the milk and vanilla in a small bowl.

### Step 4: Chocolate Coating

1. Fill a pot with water that’s barely at a boil. Place a heat-safe bowl of your chocolate on top of the open pot. Make sure the water is not high enough that it makes contact with your bowl. Add your oil as your chocolate melts.
    - Alternatively, you can also microwave your chocolate 30 seconds at a time for about two minutes.
2. In your bowl, whisk together the melted white chocolate and oil until homogeneous. Keep warm, or re-melt if necessary before using.

### Step 5: Assembly

1. Put on your latex gloves.
2. Transfer the cake into a bowl and roll with your hands until there are no large pieces of cake.
3. Add a splash of your vanilla milk and toss with your hands. Continue adding vanilla milk until the mixture is moist enough to knead into a ball. If it is not moist enough to do so, add up to 2 tablespoons more vanilla milk and knead it in.
4. Using a small ice cream scoop, portion out 12 even balls, each half the size of a ping-pong ball. Roll each one between the palms of your hands to shape and smooth it into a round sphere.
5. Prepare a bowl with your Birthday Sand.
6. Make sure your white chocolate is melted. If not, reheat until melted.
7. Roll about 2 tablespoons of the white chocolate in the palm of your hand and roll each ball between your palms, coating it in a thin layer of melted chocolate; add more chocolate as needed.
8. Put 3 or 4 chocolate-covered balls at a time into the bowl of Birthday Sand. Immediately toss them with the crumbs to coat, before the chocolate shell sets and no longer acts as a glue (if this happens, just coat the ball in another thin layer of melted chocolate). Note: it is best to do this without gloves on or ask a friend to help you.
9. Refrigerate for at least 5 minutes to fully set the chocolate shells before eating or storing. In an airtight container, the truffles will keep for up to 1 week in the fridge.

Follow-Along: Birthday Cake Truffles

Christina demonstrates her process for truffle recipe development with a new flavor: strawberry lemon.

Original Truffle Inspiration & Ideation

Christina prepares for truffle prototyping by gathering ingredients and planning the prototypes she wants to create.

Planning the Truffle Prototypes

Christina develops and constructs her five truffle prototypes.

Truffle Prototyping

Christina tastes and assesses her prototypes to decide on the direction for her original recipe.

Truffle Tasting & Reflection

Christina assembles her final truffles and recaps everything you've learned so far.

Assembling the Final Truffles

Christina introduces the form, key components, and ingredients of snaps.

Introduction to Snaps


In this lesson, you’ll follow along with Christina step by step to bake her Candy Bar Snaps.

We recommend watching this lesson in the kitchen and following everything Christina does step by step in real time. If you’d rather watch the video in its entirety before baking your own snaps, that is okay too, it will just take a bit more time.

The recipe below makes about 12 snaps. You can print out the [ingredients and recipe](https://res.cloudinary.com/monthly/image/upload/v1672777395/monthly-admin-images/christina-tosi-snackable-baking/recipes/Candy_Bar_Snaps.pdf) if you want to reference it while you watch the lesson. The ingredients and steps are also listed just below.

### Ingredients

_Yields about 12 snaps_

**For the Chocolate Wafer:**

- 8 Tbsp unsalted butter [110g]
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar [100g]
- 1/4 cup honey [85g]
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract [2g]
- 1 cup all-purpose flour [120g]
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder [65g]
- 1/2 tsp baking soda [2g]
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt [2g]

**For the Peanut Butter Caramel:**

- 1 cup granulated sugar [200g]
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp heavy cream [150g]
- 1/4 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter) [60g]
- 2 tsp vanilla extract [8g]
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt [2g]

**For the Pretzels:**

- 1 bag of mini-pretzels

**For the Vanilla Milk Chocolate:**

- 12 oz milk chocolate chips or chocolate [350g]
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (or 2 tsp if using chocolate rather than chips) [20g or 7g]
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract [2g]

### Step 1: Chocolate Wafer

1. Pre-heat the oven to 325°F.
2. Mix the butter, sugar, honey, and vanilla until homogenous, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of your bowl.
3. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low until homogenous, about 1 minute.
4. Divide the dough onto two sheets of 9” x 13” parchment paper. Then cover each with another sheet of parchment paper. Use your hands to press down until it’s about a half-inch thick.
5. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough between the two sheets of parchment paper. Roll until your dough takes up most of your 9” x 13” parchment paper.
6. Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Use a 3” cutter to stamp down as many complete circles as you can. Do not remove them from the sheet of dough.
7. Freeze your flat dough for 5 minutes, or refrigerate until brittle.
8. Pop out your wafer rounds and place them on a quarter-sheet pan.
9. Bake the wafers for 10-12 minutes. Bake just until your wafers are opaque without a gloss in the center.

### Step 2: Peanut Butter Caramel & Pretzels

1. Prepare your heavy cream, vanilla, salt, and peanut butter mise en place so that when your caramel is ready, you can mix in these ingredients quickly.
2. Place a dry, ideally heavy-bottom pan over a medium-high heat. Add about a quarter of your sugar to the pan to cover the bottom. Using a heat-safe rubber spatula or wooden spoon, toss your sugar around the pan. 
3. When your sugar turns into a light brown liquid, add another quarter cup of sugar, and repeat until you’ve added all the sugar. Do not burn your caramel — if it begins to smoke or turn darker, lower the heat. Once you’ve added all your sugar, bring your caramel to just about the color of the peanut butter or slightly darker. Turn off your heat.
4. Very gently to avoid burning yourself, slowly add the heavy cream, which will bubble and steam. If your mixture seizes up, you can briefly turn on your stove on low heat. Toss your caramel until homogenous.
5. Add your vanilla extract, salt, and peanut butter (or other nut butter). Mix until you have a liquid, smooth mixture. Then transfer to a heat-safe container.
6. Place your mixture in the fridge or freezer to cool down, until the mixture is viscous, about 8 minutes in the freezer.
7. Prepare your wafers, peanut butter caramel, pretzels, and a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Add a tablespoon of peanut butter caramel onto each wafer, then use a bendable spoon to spread the caramel almost to the edge of the wafer. Add 2 mini pretzels on top of the caramel and place onto the lined baking sheet. Then repeat for the remaining snaps.
8. Chill in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (you can move on to the next step in the meantime).

### Step 3: Vanilla Milk Chocolate

1. Fill a pot with water that’s barely at a boil. Place a heat-safe bowl of your chocolate on top of the open pot. Make sure the water is not high enough that it makes contact with your bowl. Alternatively, you can also microwave your chocolate 30 seconds at a time for about two minutes. Add your oil and vanilla as your chocolate begins to melt. Remember to use 2 Tbsp of oil if using chocolate chips, but you’ll only need 2 tsp of oil if using bars of chocolate.
2. In your bowl, whisk together the chocolate, vanilla and oil until fluid with no lumps or chunks. Keep warm, or re-melt if necessary before using.

### Step 4: Assembly

1. Prepare your assembled snaps from the fridge, the melted chocolate, and a clean baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
2. Dunk each snap into the bowl of melted chocolate with the pretzels face down. Use a fork or two to submerge the snap and flip it over and tip back into the chocolate. Remove your snap from the chocolate and tap onto the side of your bowl to let the excess chocolate drip off. Use the edge of the bowl to scrape off the bottom of the snap as you remove it and place it onto your lined baking sheet. Repeat for the other snaps.
3. Let your snaps sit at room temperature until your chocolate sets, or pop in the fridge for a few minutes.

Follow-Along: Candy Bar Snaps

Christina comes up with a flavor story and initial direction for her new snap recipe.

Snap Inspiration & Ideation

Christina plans her snap prototypes and selects the ingredients and flavors she wants to experiment with.

Snap Prototype Planning

Christina tries different ways to bring her flavor story to life by creating a variety of snap prototypes.

Creating Snap Prototypes

Christina tastes and assesses her snap prototypes before deciding on her favorite one.

Assessing the Snap Prototypes

Christina assembles her final snaps and reflects on her new original recipe.

Assembling the Final Snaps

Christina introduces the third and final snackable dessert of the class — cups.

Introduction to Cups


In this lesson, you will follow along with Christina step by step and create her Cornflake Chocolate Marshmallow Cups. She’ll walk you the anatomy of a cup and the assembly techniques she uses to get the best results every time.

We recommend watching this lesson in the kitchen and following along with Christina in real time. If you’d rather watch the full video before making your cups, that’s okay too, it will just take a bit more time.

You can print out the [ingredients and recipe](https://res.cloudinary.com/monthly/image/upload/v1672781537/monthly-admin-images/christina-tosi-snackable-baking/recipes/Cornflake_Chocolate_Marshmallow_Cups.pdf) if you want to reference it while you make your cups. The recipe — including all of the ingredients, materials, and instructions — is also listed just below.

### Ingredients

_Yields 6 chocolate cups_

**For the Cornflake Crunch:**

- 1 cup cornflakes [35g]
- 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp non-fat milk powder [13g]
- 2 tsp sugar [10g]
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt [1g]
- 2 Tbsp melted butter [30g]

**For the Marshmallow Filling:**

- 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff [45g]
- 1/4 cup cornflake crunch [23g]

**For the Chocolate Cups:**

- 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate [350g]
- 2 tsp vegetable oil (or 2 Tbsp if using chocolate chips) [7g or 20g]


### Step 1: Cornflake Crunch

1. Preheat the oven to 275°F.
2. Toss cornflakes into a bowl. Crunch them up into pieces about a quarter of their original size.
3. Add your milk powder, sugar, salt, and melted butter. Toss until butter glues all of the dry ingredients to your cornflake pieces.
4. Transfer your mixture to a lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Leave out to cool.

### Step 2: Marshmallow Filling

1. Grease a 1/2 cup measuring cup with baking spray. Add marshmallow fluff and cooled cornflake crunch to a bowl and mix until the cornflakes are well-distributed.

### Step 3: Chocolate Cup Base

1. Prepare a cupcake tray with fluted molds and a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag.
2. Fill a pot with water that’s barely at a boil. Place a heat-safe bowl of your chocolate on top of the open pot. Make sure the water is not high enough that it makes contact with your bowl. Add your oil as your chocolate melts.
    - Alternatively, you can also microwave your chocolate 30 seconds at a time for about two minutes.
3. In your bowl, mix together the melted chocolate and oil until there are just a few lumps left, and then remove from heat. Continue mixing until the lumps are gone and you have a homogenous, liquid, but still viscous mixture.
4. Fill your Ziploc bag with chocolate and zip it up. Then cut out a small corner of the bag. Pour chocolate into each mold until the bottom is covered. Use a small spoon to create a taller wall on the sides of the mold, about 1/2 inch tall. Remove any excess chocolate and tap your tray on the counter to spread the chocolate evenly.
5. Place your tray of cups in the fridge for 10 minutes.

### Step 4: Assembly

1. Remove your tray of cups from the fridge.
2. Add about a tablespoon of your cornflake marshmallow filling to each cup. Use a greased small spoon to spread your filling in the molds. You should be able to see your chocolate walls — if you can’t, you’ve added too much filling.
3. Repeat the process of adding melted chocolate to a Ziploc bag and then add a thin layer of melted chocolate to each cup to cover your filling. Use a small spoon to spread the chocolate evenly. Tap your tray on the counter to ensure an even surface on your cups.
4. Place your cups back in the fridge for 10 minutes, then remove the paper molds.


Follow-Along: Cornflake Chocolate Marshmallow Cups

Christina brainstorms ideas for her cup recipe and comes up with her flavor story.

Cup Inspiration & Ideation

Christina gathers her ingredients and plans the cup prototypes she wants to create.

Preparing for Cup Prototyping

Christina assembles her cup prototypes, showing you her entire process along the way.

Cup Prototyping

Christina tastes and assesses her cup prototypes before deciding on the direction for her final original recipe.

Tasting Cup Prototypes

Christina assembles her final cups and reflects on her new original recipe.

Assembling the Final Cups

The class is over, but there is still more to create and bake. Christina gives advice on how to keep learning and growing as a baker.

How to Keep Learning

Learn everything you need to expand your baking repertoire with snackable desserts — small, sweet, and delicious creations. In this class, Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi takes you into her studio and teaches you her step-by-step recipe development process — the same process she uses with her team at Milk Bar. Finish the class with 3 classic Milk Bar recipes, 3 original recipes of your own, and an arsenal of creative baking skills.

Christina Tosi's Studio

Creative Baking: The Complete Guide To Developing Your Own Original Dessert Recipes

$449.99

Snackable Baking: Design Your Own Bite-Sized Desserts

$449.99

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