Mint Julep Cake From Milk Bar

Milk Bar's Christina Tosi developed a cake especially for The Foodist's daughter on her 5th birthday—inspired by her name

By Danielle WalshPhotographer Matt Duckor

November 14, 2013

Julep Knowlton is one of the luckiest five-year-olds in the world: every year for her birthday, dessert queen Christina Tosi of Milk Bar makes her a crazy custom cake. And that's not something Tosi does for everybody. Yes, it helps that Julep is our restaurant and drinks editor Andrew Knowlton's daughter—but Julep has taken to Tosi, who she affectionately refers to as her crazy aunt. While previous years' cakes have included the famous birthday cake and pretzel cake (the latter before it became a mainstay on the Milk Bar menu), this year, Tosi developed a creation that's a tribute to the birthday girl and one of her dad's favorite cocktails: a mint julep cake. "Earlier this year, I saw Christina at a Bon Appétit party and she asked me what kind of cake we were gonna do this year for Julep," says Knowlton, "and I said, 'Do you think you could ever make a mint julep cake?'" Tosi lit up with the biggest smile, and the next thing you know, after several tests, Julep had her mint julep cake." We made sure to swing by the Milk Bar kitchen to catch Tosi making this gorgeous cake, which (needless to say) Julep loved. It could have been due to that Wild Turkey 101 in the cake—like father, like daughter.

1/14
Milk Bar chef Christina Tosi with a bottle of bourbon, the boozy component in the mint julep cake (duh). In this cake, it's used in two ways: A soak (which adds another layer of flavor and keeps the cake moist) and a mint julep glaze that's spread atop the cake. Says Tosi: "We use Wild Turkey 101 because we're classy broads."
2/14
The plan.

3/14
Fresh mint is used in a few different ways. Tosi makes a sweet mint tea with the leaves, then incorporates it into the cake's soak; fresh leaves are folded into the liquid cheesecake layer (they're kept whole so they stay green and minty); finally, mint leaves are arranged on top of the cake before the glaze is poured on top.
4/14
All cakes at Milk Bar start off as sheet pan cakes, then Tosi stamps them out with a round cutter to produce perfect, uniform layers. This one is a lemon cake.

5/14
This is the liquid cheesecake layer—under-baked cheesecake that's used like frosting, but is more firm and creamy and a little less sweet. Those bits on top are milk crumbs made from milk solids, white chocolate, butter, and flour, which add texture to the cake.
6/14
The mint julep soak is spread onto the cake.

7/14
The mint is arranged as a headdress on top of the cake (you know, just in case you forgot what kind of cake you were eating).
8/14
That Mint glaze takes the cake (get it?)

9/14
Tosi stores her cakes overnight in the freezer. This allows the cake to set up so she can pile the layers high without worrying about them falling.
10/14
The finished mint julep cake, ready to go into the freezer with the other cakes.

11/14
Restaurant and drinks editor Andrew Knowlton maybe took a swig of Wild Turkey 101 in the Milk Bar kitchen (alright, he definitely did).

Danielle Walsh is the assistant web editor at Bon Appétit, and has also written for New York Magazine's Grub Street. She loves Korean food, tacos, and whiskey, and is trying really, really hard to like sardines. ... Read More