Cereal Milk is a flavor, beverage, and ingredient introduced commercially by

Christina Tosi Christina Tosi (born 1981) is an American chef and cookbook author. She is founder and co-owner with Momofuku of Milk Bar and serves as its chef and CEO. ''Food & Wine'' magazine included her in their 2014 list of "Most Innovative Women in Food ...

in 2006 while working at Momofuku. Cereal Milk is milk flavored with

breakfast cereal Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in ...

. A 15th-century Scottish recipe is the earliest known similar dish.

Historical antecedents

According to ''The Atlantic'', a 15th century Scottish recipe for

brose Brose is a Scots word for an uncooked form of porridge: oatmeal (and/or other meals) is mixed with boiling water (or stock) and allowed to stand for a short time. It is eaten with salt and butter, milk or buttermilk. A version of brose made w ...

or athol brose, which it described as similar to a liquid

cranachan Cranachan ( gla, Crannachan ) is a traditional Scottish dessert. It was originally a celebration of harvest, made following the raspberry harvest in June. The dessert of cream and fresh seasonal raspberries is bolstered by Scottish oats and whis ...

, calls for soaking oats in water and adding honey, Scotch, and, depending on the recipe, cream.

Development

Tosi first created Cereal Milk in 2006 as an ingredient while working for

David Chang David Chang (Korean: ; born August 5, 1977) is an American restaurateur, author, podcaster, and television personality. He is the founder of the Momofuku restaurant group. In 2009, Momofuku Ko was awarded two Michelin stars, which the restaur ...

at Momofoku. There were no desserts on the menu when Tosi came on board, and she created her own recipes inspired by the flavors of childhood favorites, including Cereal Milk

panna cotta Panna cotta (Italian for "cooked cream") is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings. History The name ''panna cotta'' is not mentioned in Ita ...

. The Los Angeles Times described Tosi's take on panna cotta as " akingsomething upscale...and

anking Anqing (, also Nganking, formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province, People's Republic of China. Its population was 4,165,284 as of the 2020 census, with 804,493 living in the ...

it down. Tosi further developed the concept at Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, now

Milk Bar In Australia, a milk bar is a suburban local general store. Similar, but not identical, establishments include tuck shops, delicatessens or "delis", and corner shops or corner stores. Milk bars are traditionally a place where people buy new ...

. In addition to the panna cotta Tosi has developed an ice cream, cookies, a

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, and beverages such as milk, lattes, and

milkshakes A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mixture ...

. The basic ingredient is also used as a mixer for coffees and cocktails. When Tosi opened Milk Bar, one of the first menu items was her Cereal Milk

softserve SoftServe, Inc., founded in 1993 in Lviv, Ukraine, is a technology company specializing in consultancy services and software development. SoftServe provides services in the fields of big data, Internet of things, cloud computing, DevOps, e- ...

. Tosi has since expanded to packaged custard-style

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

in Cereal Milk flavors.

Preparation and ingredients

The beverage and basic ingredient Cereal Milk is prepared by toasting

cornflakes Corn flakes, or cornflakes, are a breakfast cereal made from toasting flakes of corn (maize). The cereal, originally made with wheat, was created by Will Kellogg in 1894 for patients at the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he worked with his brothe ...

, steeping them at room temperature in milk, draining off the cereal, and adding brown sugar and salt. Other cereals can also be used.

Reception

According to the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "Nothing bears the trademark of the pastry chef Christina Tosi more than her cereal milk flavor," and that she had made it a "household name".

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

called Cereal Milk a "cult favorite". Trade journal ''Restaurant Business'' called Tosi's cereal milk "iconic". ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews, who was also the ...

'''s Megan Zhang theorized that the appeal of the cereal milk flavor was rooted in the nostalgia of recalling that breakfast cereal was 'the first thing many of us learned to “cook” and eat ourselves as youngsters'.

Influence

In 2017

Ben & Jerry's Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream p ...

introduced a line of flavors that ''

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' (w ...

'' called a latant ripoffof Tosi's creation.

Burger King Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...

produced a Cereal Milk milkshake.

References

{{Reflist Cuisine Drinks Flavored milk