Shoofly Pie

Name: Shoofly Pie
Yield: makes one 9-inch pie
Ingredients: 1/2 recipe Plain Pie Pastry (page 17) or Vinegar Pie Crust (page 19); 1 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup light brown sugar; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 1/3 cup cold unsalted butter; 1/2 cup light molasses; 1/2 cup dark corn syrup; 1 cup boiling water; 1 egg, beaten; 1 teaspoon baking soda; Sweetened Whipped Cream (page 26), for topping (optional); Chocolate Sauce (page 28), for drizzling (optional)

January 24, 2012

In her book The Best of Amish Cooking, Phyllis Pellman Good writes that shoofly pies may have been common in the past because “this hybrid cake within a pie shell” fared better than more delicate pies in the old-style bake ovens. With the advent of modern ovens, temperatures could be controlled, allowing for the development of the lighter pies that are standard today. Shoofly pies keep nicely in a pie cupboard. They also freeze well. This recipe uses 1/2 cup each of molasses and corn syrup for a sweeter flavor; you can simply use just a full cup of molasses, leaving out the corn syrup, for a stronger flavor if you like. This version also makes for a pie with a very wet bottom—the bottom of the crust disappears into the filling. If you’d like it drier, cut the water in the filling back to 3/4 cup.

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