Pricey 'Crack Pie' Sweeping the Nation

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Feb 18th 2010 at 11:05PM

Have you tasted Crack Pie? If you live in NYC and haven't tried it yet you're fast becoming a minority as this simple but apparently addictive little baked good is taking over NYC (and seems to have eyes for the rest of the country too). Available at Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar in Manhattan, its humble appearance and simple ingredients are deceiving as it carries a whopping price tag of $44 per pie. And no, there's no actual crack in there jacking up the cost. The pie has an oatmeal cookie crust base with a filling that includes egg yolks, sugar, butter and heavy cream. Some have likened it to the Southern favorite, chess pie.

But people are more than willing to pay for this sweet treat. Crack Pie has grown so popular, in part due to recent celebrity endorsements (Anderson Cooper went crazy over it on Regis & Kelly and Martha Stewart featured the bakery and recipe on her show), that the bakery has begun selling the pies online and shipping them via Fed Ex.

So no more excuses for an Iowan like me, I know what I'm putting on the top of my b-day wish list this year!

Tags: baked goods, BakedGoods, bakery, crack pie, CrackPie, dessert, desserts, nyc, pie, pies, sweets

Filed under: Dining

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Rossodianima Feb 19th 2010 2:37PM

I made this pie (they shared the recipe with the LA Times: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/11/food/la-fo-crackpierec11-2010feb11) and it is WAAY too sweet. I don't understand the obsession.

reallytorkedoff Feb 19th 2010 11:36PM

It doesn't matter what it tastes like, a FAMOUS person recommended it.

Isn't that reason enough to spend too much for it?

And I wonder why it is so expensive? The ingredients seem to be standard, commonplace items. Most of which seem to be some form of sugar.

susan Feb 20th 2010 2:02PM

DITTO!! All that sugar and cream is why the south has the largest number of obese persons in this country. The "chess pie" thing is absolutely gross.

LOLat POPculture Feb 20th 2010 6:24AM

Regardless if this pie is good or not it is sold at about 6 times the cost needed to make it (after all expenses added, labor, equiptment, energy used to cook, etc.). The only reason people would go nuts over something like this is simple. Someone who is "famous" decided to endorse it (which is most likely a business situation rather than them actually liking it, as this type of situation commonly is.) So, naturally everyone in the celeb-culture "media" has to have a comment on it, as well as all the trendy people who think what celebrities are doing is ACTUALLY news and not some useless drabble that has nothing to do with them. Anyone in their right mind will be smart to avoid paying such a ridiculous price for something that should be sold for about 1/4 the price. Unless you're extensively wealthy then as they tend to say, "Break a leg". Of course this post will be censored by the celeb-culture "media" (AOL in this instance) so not many people will read it. Who is the idiot now who spent 5 minutes typing something only 20 people will get the chance to read before it is censored. Like most ideas and words you do not agree with it is much easier to erase said ideas/words than to actually confront them.

marvel4811 Feb 20th 2010 6:18PM

Guess you were wrong again, maybe you should go back to your fox news and watch the snowball fights.

ews1040 Feb 20th 2010 7:38AM

This is a less tasty version of my Mother's Southern Chess pie. Certainly not worth the hype or the $40.

SCHMOOZEINC Feb 20th 2010 8:18AM

I AINT BUYING NOTHING TILL OPRAH TELLS MR TO

Eric Feb 20th 2010 2:48PM

Now that's funny. No doubt about it, that's funny!

GiveMeABreak Feb 20th 2010 8:47AM

I wonder how much this bakery paid AOL to run this 'news story'. I am so sick of AOL's thinly veiled ads. How stupid do they think their customers are?

medmarkeric Feb 20th 2010 9:56AM

I've had this pie from them. It's ok. Nothing special though. You want a selection of truly great, mouth-watering, bring a tear to your eye pie, Dangerously delicius pies in Baltimore and Washington is the King of Pies. They have over 30 types of pies you can purchase. And they ship too!
The website address is http://www.dangerouspies.com/

You won't be sorry.

ssmith94015 Feb 20th 2010 10:18AM

Good grief, I thought paying for a "pet rock" years ago was silly, this is beyond that. For $44, I can bake a lot of pies AND they won't be overly, sickening sweet. Then again, my husband and I like to eat out, but what we have noticed is a LOT of overpriced "trendy" and "stylish" restaurants' food is not a good as what I make at home. Just because a trained chef created it does not mean it is any good. Our standard now is - is the food AS GOOD as what I make at home? If not, we don't go back. But this place and pie? Would not even walk in the door.

druid0621 Feb 20th 2010 10:23AM

Anyone who spends $44 on a pie has too much money - or too little respect for it.

jessie Feb 20th 2010 10:39AM

I can't even pronounce the name of the bakery...everytime I read it it sounds like I'm cussing out my mother. NO $44 pie for me.

steve Feb 20th 2010 10:51AM

I made the exact pie myself. It cost me about $3.00 and it takes like a stupid, boring sugar cookie with some oatmeal thrown in. What morons will fall for this insane stunt? I guess the same people that bought 1 bedroom condos for over a million in 2007.

david mcdonald Feb 20th 2010 11:06AM

Just like a yankee paying $44 for a $5 pie .

Peggy Mc Coy Feb 20th 2010 11:13AM

If the pie is divided into eight slices, that is $5.50 per slice. Not an unusual price for a restaruant dessert, so what's the big fuss?

Oddibe Feb 20th 2010 11:38AM

Exactly! And anyone who has ever baked desserts at home for a restaurant will tell you that he/she didn't make a dime doing it. In this case, I can't even imagine the cost of running a bakery in Manhattan. Sorry to say, $44 for a whole pie in NYC is not "whopping" - more like trendy-high-price.

fen213 Feb 20th 2010 11:37AM

I'll stick with Cinderella chessecake in Riverside, N.J. Still the best yet!

Jan Feb 20th 2010 3:01PM

$44 for a pie? Even at $1 per serving with 8 servings, I'm not sure that $8 would make it worthwhile. Mymission is to help people save money, not find ways to vacuum their pockets. I give this one a "thumbs down". Free money saving tips AND free money saving recipe of the day @ www.janleasure.com
Actually, for $44 you could serve a family of four decent dinners including a piece of pie for dessert for two days or more. Come on! Jan Leasure, $uper $aver