What Is a Black Bottom Pie?

A black bottom pie is any pie with a crust made of crushed chocolate wafers or cookies. Fillings are usually either custard-based or ice cream-based. Many different flavorings can be used when making the pie.

Vanilla, coffee and even alcohol such as rum or brandy can flavor the creamy custard or the ice cream filling of a black bottom pie. If using ice cream, you can add a layer of ice cream inside the pie crust and then spoon on the flavoring in a drizzling motion before adding another ice cream layer. Keep the pie frozen and let it sit out for ten minutes at room temperature before serving so that the pie is soft enough to slice. Toppings such as caramel, whipped cream and/or nuts can be added to the ice cream black bottom pie.

Practically any flavor of filling can be used in a black bottom pie. Lemon, raspberry and mint are just some of the possibilities, but the list is limited only by your imagination. You can also use deliciously decadent fillings such as caramel and chocolate.

Chocolate is probably the most popular flavor for a black bottom pie and you can add chocolate curls to the top for a triple chocolate effect. Some chocolate pies are made with gelatin to thicken the creamy custard filling, while others use corn starch alone for thickening. Bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate is usually used to make the filling.

You can crush any type of chocolate cookies or wafers to make a black bottom pie crust. Place a layer of cookies at a time on a cutting board, cover with wax paper or tin foil and use a rolling pin to crush the cookies. The bottom of a glass could also be used as a "crusher." Pecans or other nuts can be crushed and added to the cookie crumbs, along with melted butter, or you can just use the chocolate cookie crumbs alone.