Black Bottom Pie

Here is the next recipe from Grandma Quam's recipe file that I'm going to attempt to make. (Sister) Dawn has been after me for quite some time to make "Black Bottom Pie," famously served at the U.W. Memorial Union cafeteria.  

The pie was originally created by Carson Gulley (June 9, 1897 – November 2, 1962) who was head chef at the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 1926 to 1954 (left). The building where he once worked is now known as Carson Gulley Commons, located at 1515 Tripp Circle. It was the first university building at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to be named after an African American. In his day, he baked many pie flavors, but his Black Bottom Pie was his most famous.

His recipe made it into the Wisconsin State Journal in the 1960s, and Grandma Quam copied the recipe in her own handwriting. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Crust: 

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Filling: 

2 cups milk

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

4 eggs, separated

1 tablespoon gelatin softened in 1/4 cup cold water

1 1/4 ounces baking chocolate

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Procedure:

Mix crust ingredients, press into pie tin, and bake five minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat milk in a double boiler. Blend cornstarch and half of the sugar together. Add enough of the hot milk to moisten well, then add to the balance of the hot milk and continue cooking in double boiler. Beat egg yolks, pour some of the hot milk mixture over them, beating well, and then add them to the hot milk mixture in the double boiler. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick and smooth. Add softened gelatin, blend well, and set mixture aside to cool.

Melt chocolate over hot water [in double boiler]. Take one cup of the hot custard mixture, stir it into the melted chocolate and set aside to cool. When it becomes cool, but not stiff, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar. When they are stiff enough to hold peaks, add the remaining half cup of sugar gradually and continue beating until well blended. Fold beaten egg whites into the cooled vanilla custard mixture. Now pour the cooled chocolate custard mixture into the graham cracker pie shell. Pour the custard-egg white mixture over it, and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Top with whipped cream and grated sweet chocolate before serving.

As you can see, this is quite a complicated recipe, but I am willing to give it a go. I'll let you know how it turns out.