Shoofly Pie

Slice of Shoofly pie.

 

So, a recent Zoom meeting of friends tangented (is that a word?) into a discussion of Shoofly Pie, a staple of American country cooking, particularly among Amish and Mennonite farm families.

A little googling led to this recipe in the New York Times.  Another recipe, from the Wikipedia entry for Shoofly Pie, can be found here: https://www.ourheritageofhealth.com/traditional-shoo-fly-pie-recipe/

I always peruse the reader notes in every NYT recipe; these notes are often quite helpful and one note mentioned the molasses product shown below. 

https://www.goldenbarrel.com/product/golden-barrel-supreme-baking-molasses/

So, here is my process for baking Shoofly Pie - the directions are an amalgamation of the two recipes referenced above.

1) First, defrost one 9" frozen pie shell. While it's defrosting, make the crumb mixture: Mix 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt.

2) Cube 1 stick cold unsalted butter and cut into flour mixture, using a pastry cutter, until mixture forms fine clumps.

3) At this point preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Have the defrosted pie crust and crumb mixture ready to hand. Put your pie crust on a baking sheet. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you try to maneuver this liquid-y pie onto an oven rack. It will spill and slosh and there will be burnt molasses all over the bottom of the oven.

4) Now, here's where my directions are a bit different. I put half the crumb mixture into the pie shell. (Sorry no image - soon.)  Then I measured 3/4 cup of baking molasses (see above) in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Using another measuring cup, I poured 3/4 boiling water into the molasses. Then I added 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. I stirred this well, it started to foam, and I immediately poured the molasses mixture onto the crumbs in the pie crust. 

 

5) Finally, I mounded up the remaining crumbs over the top of the pie.

Filled pie, ready to bake.

 

6) I put the pie, on its baking sheet, into the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the oven temp was lowered to 350 degrees. I gave the pie another 35 minutes; 30 would probably have been enough.

 

Puffed up while in the oven.

All baked - crumb crust nicely browned.

 

7) When removed from the oven, the pie rested on a rack until cool, and then was popped into the fridge.  

My husband then cut the pie and, much to my surprise and relief, the pie held its shape nicely.   Thank you, St. Honore, patron saint of bakers.  We let our slices come to room temperature before enjoying, washed down with some decaf.

One quarter wedge removed, then sliced into 2 pieces.

 

The pie forms three layers - a molasses layer just above the crust, a kind of cakey layer of molasses-soaked filling in the middle, and then the slightly crunchy crumb layer on top. Surprisingly good.