Bettie’s Black Moon Pie

 

Bettie’s Black Moon Pie

A Southern Gothic dessert with molasses shadows and pecan secrets

🌒 Vibe:

This pie whispers of midnight porch confessions, Spanish moss secrets, and ancestral sweetness. It’s built on a classic Southern molasses pecan pie base, but deepened with black cocoa, smoked salt, and a hint of sorghum syrup—like a relic from a forgotten church supper where the preacher never came back.

🧺 Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked pie crust (homemade or store-bought, but Bettie rolls hers with a silver rolling pin)

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup dark molasses (or half molasses, half sorghum syrup for deeper lore)

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• ¼ cup black cocoa powder (for that moonless night hue)

• ½ tsp smoked sea salt (or regular salt if you’re not feeling haunted)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1½ cups chopped pecans (to resemble scattered bones or forgotten relics)

• 2 tbsp melted butter

🔮 Optional Gothic Enhancements:

• A splash of bourbon (for ghostly warmth)

• A pinch of cayenne (for Southern fire and whispered curses)

• Candied violets or edible flowers (for graveyard garnish)

🕯️ Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie dish and crimp edges like lace on a widow’s veil.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs until slightly frothy. Add molasses, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, and melted butter. Stir until smooth and shadowy.

3. Fold in chopped pecans. Pour mixture into the pie crust.

4. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until the center is set but still trembles like a secret.

5. Cool completely. Serve with whipped cream or black coffee. Bettie prefers hers with a dollop of sweet cream and a side of scandal.

🕸️ Serving Lore:

Bettie says, “This pie’s got teeth, sugar. Serve it warm and it’ll tell you who’s buried under the porch.”