A couple years later, and I am still kicking myself for not going to Momofuko's Milk Bar when I was in NYC last.

My last visit to the Big Apple was my husband's first time, so I made a list of all of my favorite hot spots, restaurants, and attractions that I knew he would love. Included were a good dozen bakeries to choose from. Since my previous visit, I read about a glorious sweet haven called Milk Bar, and we needed to check it out Come our last day, and we still did not make it. Lucky us, or so I thought, there was a pop-up Milk Bar a couple blocks from our hotel. So with only hours to spare in our vacation, we ventured out to see if this Crack Pie was all that it was "cracked out" to be. When we arrived, we were minutes before closing and there was only a very limited selection of treats left. Needless to say, I did not realize we weren't going to shop I first read about with Red Velvet Ice Creams, Cereal Milk, and Compost Cookies. Yes, the Crack Pie was AMAZING, but I am so disappointed that we didn't make the trip to the true Milk Bar while we were in town.

Since then, I've poured myself over the cookbook and drooled on all the adventurous, innovative recipes. I've made and loved Compost, Berries 'N Cream, and Birthday Cookies. Their famous "milk crumb" is incredible!! Throw it in cookies, pie, and cake for extra flavour and moisture. For this cake, I was inspired to create my own Raspberry Milk Crumb to add to this BERRY RED VELVET CAKE.

RED VELVET CAKE RECIPE here.

RASPBERRY MILK CRUMB: inspired by Milk Bar

40 g milk powder 40 g flour 12 g cornstarch 25 g sugar 2 g salt 55 g butter, melted 20 g milk powder 90 g white chocolate, melted 60 g freeze- dried raspberry powder 20 g sprinkles

Preheat to 350 degrees

Combine the first 40 g milk powder, flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter and toss. Use a spatula to mix until the ingredients come together and form small clusters.

Spread clusters on a lined baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, stirring halfway. Cool completely.

Crumble any large clusters. Add to remaining milk powder and toss to evenly distribute.

Pour the white chocolate over the crumbs and toss. Continue mixing around every 5 minutes until the white chocolate hardens.

Toss the milk crumbs with the freeze-dried raspberry powder and sprinkles.

STRAWBERRY BUTTERCREAM

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 3-4 cups confectioner's sugar 1/4 cup strawberry preserves 1-2 tablespoons milk

Whip butter in the bowl of a stan mixer for 5-6 minutes. Gradually add the remaining ingredients and mix until smooth. Adjust the sugar and milk until desired consistency is achieved.

WHIPPED VANILLA BUTTERCREAM here

BERRY RED VELVET CAKE ASSEMBLY

For this layer cake, bake the cake in a sheet pan. Once cooled, invert cake out of the pan. For sheets, I wrap them with plastic wrap and place them in the freezer for about an hour to make de-panning easier for the large cake. Once de-panned, cut out 3 X 6? rounds using a cake ring. If you run out of space, use 2 half-circles.
Line a cake ring with a strip of acetate. Place one cake round snuggled into the bottom of the cake ring.
Pipe Whipped Vanilla Frosting in a thin layer over the cake, making sure to touch the walls of the cake ring.
Sprinkle vanilla frosting with Berry Milk Crumb. Use the back of a spoon to fit the crumbs in snuggly and to create an even layer.
Pipe Strawberry Buttercream in a thin layer on top of the berry milk crumb.
Place another layer of Red Velvet Cake on top of the strawberry buttercream.
Repeat with until you have 3 layers of Red Velvet cake and finish with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting on top. Once you reach the top of your cake ring, carefully slip in another strip of acetate between the ring and the original strip.
Wrap well with plastic wrap, and place in the freezer for 4-24 hours.
Remove from the freezer and defrost in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Once the cake begins to thaw, carefully slide off the cake ring and acetate strips. Transfer cake to a cake round or platter. Continue to thaw in the refrigerator for a remaining 1-2 hours.
Once the cake is ready to go, remove it from the refrigerator and top it with a mound of berry milk crumbs. Enjoy at room temperature.