For many years, I lived very close to Lancaster, PA, and frequented the Amish markets there quite often. One of my favorite pies was always the Shoofly pie, but I’ve never made it until now. It’s almost a moist, sweet cake in a pie crust, and it’s one of the best things to have with a good cup of coffee.
With all of the fly memes taking over social media after the Vice Presidential Debate, I’ll admit that “shoofly” came to mind.
Maybe there’s so much out there already because people are spending way too much time on social media during these weird days. Maybe it was Schadenfreude. Or maybe we were all just embarrassed for the guy. But there are already Pence Fly Halloween costumes out there, and you can’t find a toy fly anywhere because they’re backordered. It’s amazing what we spend our time on these days, looking for amusement.
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
¾ cup molasses
¾ cup boiling water
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 single crust pie pastry (I’ve posted pie crust recipes before, but you can use Pillsbury AllReady crusts in a pinch)
METHOD
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Make the crumb topping: Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the consistency resembles cornmeal.
Combine molasses, water and baking soda and pour into pastry shell. Spoon the crumb mixture evenly over the top. Bake 15 minutes, lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake 20 minutes longer, or until set and firm.
Cool completely before serving.