Leave a CommentShare: |
Subscribe
If you’ve been to a country church supper, you’ve probably been exposed to Shoo-Fly Pie even if you had no idea what it was. Or maybe that’s just me who was eating Shoo-Fly Pie for a couple years before I figured it out. It’s a charming, old-fashioned name for a pie, and it’s certainly one that never made an appearance in the kitchen of my childhood suburban home. And while you country people are laughing at me, I know some of the rest of you are saying, “What IS Shoo-Fly Pie?”
Shoo-Fly Pie is a molasses and brown sugar pie with a crumb topping. Its origins date back to treacle tarts in medieval Europe, but it gained popularity in America as settlers arrived with what staples could outlast a trip across the Atlantic by boat and intrepid cooks made do with what they had. Among these settlers were what became known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, who were major pie-lovers (like me! I am a PIE LOVER and why I don’t have Pennsylvania Dutch blood in my veins, I don’t know) and they continued to make do every late winter and early spring as food supplies ran low and Shoo-Fly Pie became their signature dish. Why it’s called Shoo-Fly Pie is debatable, but most likely because during Colonial times, baking was done outdoors and the sweet molasses filling bursting out of this pie attracted flies.
And whatever. It’s good pie!! My kids will eat it. In fact, I’m lucky if I get one slice, and I have all the ingredients on-hand all the time, no special trips to the store. Which, when you live in the boonies, is a major consideration. And, wow, don’t you just love the name of this pie? Can you live another day without getting to say you are baking a Shoo-Fly Pie?
Shoooooo-Fly Pie. Just try saying it out loud a couple times. It’ll make your day all sparkly.
Printer-Friendly
How to make Shoo-Fly Pie:
Filling–
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 cup topping mixture
In a medium-size bowl, combine dark corn syrup, molasses, boiling water, and soda. Scoop out a 1/2 cup of the corn syrup and molasses mixture into a small bowl. Add egg and whisk together then dump back into larger bowl with the whole corn syrup/molasses mixture. To finish the filling, you’ll need to prepare the topping mixture.
Topping–
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons shortening
2/3 cup firmly-packed dark brown sugar
Using a pastry cutter, blend flour, shortening, and brown sugar into coarse crumbs.
Mix 1 cup of the crumbs into the prepared bowl of corn syrup/molasses filling, reserving the rest of the crumbs to top the pie.
Pour corn syrup/molasses mixture into one unbaked single-crust Foolproof Pie Crust shell. Evenly sprinkle reserved crumbs on top. I get all obsessed trying to spread the crumbs out evenly on top of the pie.
Bake on lowest oven rack in a preheated 400-degree oven for 25 minutes. Let cool to room temperature or chill it. Serve with whipped cream.
See this recipe at Farm Bell Recipes and save it to your recipe box.
See All My Recipes
Printer-Friendly
6:36
am
6:53
am
I just had shoo fly pie when vacationing in Lancaster County, PA (Amish country) last week.
7:09
am
http://lifeislikechampagne.blogspot.com/
7:27
am
7:48
am
7:58
am
And I have a question.
Have you ever made pumpkin bread?
I got some from the bakery of Jungle Jim’s outside of Cincinnati and its AWESOME!
I would love to figure out how they made this thing so I don’t have to you know..commute 3 and a half hours to the store to get more :thumbsup:
8:34
am
another idea – write a book about a girl who grows up in WV in the “boonies”, becomes an adult, etc. not sure of the time period though. you could do it. the kids book on chickens would be great i think too.
8:53
am
9:07
am
9:34
am
9:40
am
April 4th, 1946 Dinah Shore’s recording of this song make the charts. (I grew up with my Uncle Charly listening to the Big Bands.) Here are some of the lyrics:
“Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
Makes your eyes light up,
Your tummy say “Howdy.”
Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
I never get enough of that wonderful stuff.”
If you are interest, here’s the link so you can read the lyrics to the whole song: http://www.lyricsdepot.com/dinah-shore/shoo-fly-pie-and-apple-pan-dowdy
I think the quote says it all. It’s good (how could anything made primarily with molasses and sugar be anything else. It’s fattening, but good! I’ll have to find some way to incorporate butter into the recipe so it will include all my favorite food groups!
Now give us the recipe for Apple-Pan-Dowdy. I know you have it…or ask Georgia!
10:06
am
Now that you are branching into “Pennsylvania Dutch” cuisine, you have to make some Funny Cake. I bet your kids will like that too.
10:11
am
10:13
am
11:46
am
12:04
pm
Blessings from Ohio…
1:14
pm
2:29
pm
4:15
pm
My father in law LOVES Rhubarb and Elderberries and I detest Rhubarb…my husband’s family loves to tell stories about those awful Elderberries and Rhubarb. LOL
I just now found the blog..after a couple days..I missed those cute pictures of the day!
4:52
pm
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon & ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (For me this is optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Oil and flour three 7×3 inch loaf pans.(I use Bakers Joy)
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
This is my late MIL’s recipe and she was from Maine.
5:01
pm
5:37
pm
6:11
pm
6:23
pm
7:00
pm
10:26
pm
I will so be trying to make some pumpkin bread soon!
Thank you both!
I love pumpkin pie and this bread is just pure awesome
10:58
pm
2:52
pm
5:29
pm
10:19
pm
?
(Another saying I learned here: “A day late and a dollar short” ~ posting on June 4!!)
6:02
am
12:48
am
That was one of my favorite songs when I worked at a radio station in college. Didn’t know what it was until now!
7:46
pm
9:24
pm
2:09
am