When I walk down the cereal aisle as an adult, it’s like a reverse of the power scenario I faced as a child: “Wow, I used to love fruity pebbles! Too bad I can’t have it now because it’s kid cereal.” Then I remember that I’m an adult and I can eat whatever cereal I want. So why stop at cereal in a bowl? You can take a box of your favorite childhood cereal and turn the whole thing into the most indulgent, nostalgic, sugar-rush-laughter-inducing dessert you’ve ever had, and make a cereal milk cream pie.
The pie is inspired by exactly what it sounds like: the sugary taste of the milk left over after you’ve finished a bowl of your favorite childhood cereal. It’s the sweet chocolate milk birthed by Cocoa Puffs, the creamsicle-flavored puddle produced by Fruity Pebbles, the cinnamon-sugar elixir you anticipated after a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It will be forever popular with seven-year-olds across the world, but Christina Tosi, the owner of Milk Bar, made a career out of championing the delicacy that is cereal milk, and made it famous to consume outside of a cereal bowl.
Cereal milk is potent and easy to make. (Just ask a child if you forgot how to do it.) Once you make your own bowl of cereal milk, you’ve got the freedom to flavor any sweet recipe that uses milk as a primary ingredient–ice cream, panna cotta, or pudding for instance. In this case, I wanted a cereal milk cream pie that tasted like a Fruity Pebbles fever dream crowned in whipped cream. I was fully satisfied with the results.
I enjoy the flavor and colors of Fruity Pebbles, but any cereal will work for this pie. You can use any pie crust you want (like a graham cracker or flaky pie crust), but for the most intense cereal experience, I suggest using the cereal crumbs. (If the cereal you choose has dried fruit in it, leave it in for the milk soak, but take out the fruit for the crust—it might burn.) I made a baked cereal crust in the recipe below, but you can also try a no-bake cereal crust. Fill the pie crust with cereal milk pudding and set it in the fridge for at least six hours, but overnight gives the best slicing results.
A few hours before serving, top the pie with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Anywhere from a half inch-layer to a mountainous heap is perfect and completely up to your preference. If you’re in the 0.001% of the population that doesn’t like pie, feel free to make the cereal milk pudding alone and get just as much pleasure from it.
Cereal Milk Cream Pie
Ingredients:
For the Cereal Crust:
1 ½ cup ground cereal crumbs (may take more whole cereal, depending on the kind you’re using)
2 tablespoons of sugar
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (melted)
For the Cereal Milk Pudding:
2 ½ cups whole milk
2 ½ dry cups of cereal
⅓ cup sugar
⅙ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 egg yolks
For the Whipped Cream:
16 ounces heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Put a 9-inch pie plate on a sheet tray. Start the pudding component by soaking the cereal in the milk for 20 minutes in a large bowl. Stir occasionally during this time.
Meanwhile, for the crust, grind dry cereal in a food processor until you have 1 ½ cups of crumbs. Pulse about 10-15 times, or until the cereal is fine, like grains of sand. A few larger pieces are okay. The photo below is for reference, but get your crumbs finer than what you see in the picture. This ended up crumbling too easily and I wish I had gone finer.
Pour the cereal crumbs into a small bowl and stir in the sugar. Once the sugar is blended in, add the melted butter and mix with a spatula until all of the crumbs are moistened by the butter. Press the mixture into the pie plate with a rubber spatula and use a spoon to press it firmly up the sides.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350ºF. The crust should be fragrant but not have taken on any color. Set aside at room temperature while you make the pudding.
After the cereal has soaked for 20 minutes, strain the cereal milk into a medium pot. Discard the soggy cereal (or eat it). In a small bowl, stir the sugar, cornstarch, and salt together until evenly mixed. Take a ¼ cup of the cereal milk out of the pot and put it into a medium bowl. Add the egg yolks to the medium bowl and whisk. Add the cornstarch mixture to the yolk mixture in the medium bowl and whisk until fully combined. You will soon temper the milk into this egg mixture.
Heat the cereal milk in the pot over medium heat until it starts to steam and small bubbles start forming on the edges. Do not boil. Turn off the heat and slowly stream a small amount of the hot cereal milk into the egg mixture while whisking the whole time. Add a bit more hot milk while whisking. Repeat this until about ¾ of the cereal milk is in the egg yolk mixture. The constant whisking will keep the eggs from cooking into scrambled eggs.
Put the pot of remaining cereal milk back on the stove and whisk the egg mixture back into the pot. Now everything should be back in the pot. Turn the heat on medium and whisk constantly until it thickens to a pudding consistency. Don’t let it cool. Pour your hot cereal milk pudding directly into the cereal pie crust. Smooth out the top. You can top it with plastic wrap or a square of paper towel to prevent it from drying out and forming a skin. Place the whole thing in the fridge for at least six hours, or overnight.
A few hours before serving, make the whipped cream. (If you’re crunched for time, you can do it just before serving, but the whipped cream will firm up a bit if you give it time and that makes for cleaner cuts.) Pour the heavy cream and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk until you have medium-firm peaks. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Top the pie with a mound of whipped cream and feel free to garnish it with a few cereal flakes. Serve the pie, eat the pie, then start brainstorming all of the other cereals you want to turn into pie. This breakfast-dessert hybrid keeps well in the fridge for up to three days.