The first installment (we hope) in a know-your-pastry series

Thanks to the article “The Life of Pie,” by Michael Penn MA’97, we know that fudge-bottom pie isn’t just a UW tradition — it’s two UW traditions. To University Housing, it’s part of the legacy of legendary chef Carson Gully. To the Union, its graham-cracker crust encases the connection that student and alumni feel to the various cafes and kitchens that are connected to campus’s living room.

These traditions have become so distinct that they’ve actually evolved into two separate pies. Which is the one that dominates your memories? We at On Wisconsin want to help you correctly identify your fudge-bottom. Both concoctions may have the same basic structure: graham cracker crust, chocolate base, custard filling, and a whipped cream topping garnished with chocolate shavings. But a true Badger ought to be able to spot the difference at first glance.

And so, with fork in hand and tongue in cheek, we set these pies side by side — tart-à-tart, as it were — to help you quickly identify their unique characteristics.

Note the topping on the Union pie (left). It has a more professional look, with artfully arranged cream (“like cute little fluffs of love,” according to our art director, Earl Madden MFA’82) scattered with large shavings of chocolate.

The Housing pie, on the other hand, had a more homemade appearance. Its topping, in Madden’s assessment, had “a certain Cool-Whippiness,” and the chocolate bits are small, almost like jimmies. The Housing pie’s cream spreads out to cover the border of the crust. “The application of the topping masks its pieness," according to production editor Eileen Fitzgerald '79. "It’s really more of a tart.”

Once a slice is removed from each pie, the differences become all the more obvious. The Housing pie has a very thick layer of fudge — almost half an inch thick in places. The chocolate is dark and very firm. “It has strong knife adhesion,” says Penn, and slices come out clean and solid.

The Union pie has a thin, crispier layer of chocolate, which is sweeter and easier to pierce with a fork.