When wondering why my mother never made pies that had a “rolled-out dough” crust, I recalled that each of the kitchens in the three houses in which we lived had very small galley kitchens with no counter space. Mother made great pies, just not ones with dough crusts. Our favorite was fudge bottom (or black bottom as we called it) pie.
On a recent road trip with my husband from Indianapolis to Minneapolis, I had an urge to have a piece of that black bottom pie. We detoured to Madison, Wisconsin and went straight to the University of Wisconsin Memorial Union. The fudge bottom pie at Union was the inspiration for Mother’s pie. Both my parents were graduates from the “U”, and as soon as all three of their children could walk, we made a yearly pilgrimage to the campus for homecoming. We walked along Langdon Street, then known as fraternity row, to admire the decorations and ended our trek at the Memorial Union to have dinner in the cafeteria, where the legendary pie awaited.
The recipe for this pie, is said to have been introduced in the 1940s by the chef of the Memorial Union,
Lewis Marston. Others attribute the source of the recipe to Carson Gulley, who was a chef for the University of Wisconsin residence halls. Regardless of the origin of the recipe, sitting in the Memorial Union overlooking sailboats and stand-up paddlers on Lake Mendota, I slipped back in time and
cherished the thought of 3 young children with their proud parents enjoying this pie. I made my pie from the recipe published on the Internet from the Wisconsin State Journal.
You can find other ways to make pie crust and filling variations on the Internet or recipe books, but this one is to die for (or at least make a detour to the Wisconsin Memorial Union). The pie has clouds of sweetness grounded by chocolate; children should be limited to one slice! In summer, the pie pairs well with Prosecco, but to be true to the spirit of the University, I should recommend pairing the pie with milk from the campus dairy store or beer from what once was the only student union in the United States that served alcohol.
People:
*The current Chef at the Wisconsin Memorial Union, who may regale you with stories about the recipe, but likely will not reveal it.
*Jeff, at Fromagination cheese shop who can recommend the right cheese to pair with any pie.
Places to stay:
*Edgewater Hotel; this classic is newly renovated, located on the Lake Mendota and is easy walking distance to the Memorial Union; enjoy the chef’s pie on the deck overlooking the lake.
*Hilton Madison, Monona Terrace. The hotel overlooks Lake Monona and is connected to the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. It is walking distance to
downtown and the University of Wisconsin campus.
Places to visit:
*Babcock Hall Dairy Store—stock up for “a la mode”; buy cheese to accompany a favorite pie.
*Wisconsin Memorial Union, to eat the pie and enjoy the ambiance.
Pie: Fudge Bottom Pie, Wisconsin Memorial Union (See recipe.)
- Fudge Bottom Pie University of Wisconsin Alumni Association
- For the crust:
- 1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 4 T. powdered sugar
- ¼ t. salt
- 6 T. butter
- For the fudge bottom:
- ¼ c. water
- ¼ c. granulated sugar
- 2 oz. bitter (unsweetened) chocolate
- For the cream filling:
- ¼ c. cornstarch
- 6 T. granulated sugar
- ¼ t. salt
- ¼ c. cold milk
- 2-1/4 c. hot milk
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 t. vanilla
- For the topping:
- 1 to 1-1/2 c. sweetened whipped cream or Cool Whip
- 2 t. grated chocolate
- To prepare crust, combine dry ingredients, mixing well. Melt butter, add to dry ingredients, and mix. Press into a 10-inch pie dish and bake at 375° for 5 minutes.
- To prepare fudge bottom, heat water and sugar in a small pan (or double boiler) until sugar dissolves. On low heat, add broken pieces of chocolate, melt, and blend with a rubber spatula until mixture thickens. (Mixture is thick enough when the consistency is slightly thicker than hot fudge returned to room temperature.) Remove from heat, spread in bottom of crust, spreading some up the sides. Chill and allow to set for a minimum of 12 hours.
- To prepare cream filling, combine dry ingredients, mixing well. Add cold milk (1/4 cup) and
- mix to smooth paste. Heat second portion of milk (2-1/4 cups) in microwave until hot, place in
- heavy saucepan (or double boiler), and add cold-milk mixture slowly while beating. Stir with a whip over low heat until thick and no starch taste is present. Beat eggs in a bowl, add vanilla, and add a third of the hot filling mixture slowly while beating until well blended. Add this mixture back to the hot filling mixture while beating, and cook 2 to 3 minutes over low heat. Remove from heat and refrigerate until cold. Spoon into pie shell and chill. Before serving, top the cream filling with sweetened whipped cream or Cool Whip, and sprinkle with grated chocolate.
