From The Amish Cook’s Baking Book
There are many baked goods that the Amish are credited with concocting or co-opting: elephants ears, funnel cakes, and Soft Pretzels (see page 78), to name a few. But perhaps the baked good with the single most Amish identity is shoofly pie. Long before Dinah Shore immortalized the molasses morass in her famous song, the Amish were enjoying this pie. The origins of this pie’s unusual name have been debated by food historians for the better part of a century. The most commonly offered explanation is that the name comes from the flies that are attracted to the pools of molasses that sometimes form on top of the pie while it is cooling. Many Amish homemakers set hot pies on a windowsill to catch a cooling breeze in the summer, hence the need to shoo the flies.
Other food historians point to the possibility that the name of the pie is simply an inaccurately translated version of a German or Swiss word. Interestingly, Elizabeth Coblentz, in her first mention of the pie in her column, spelled it “Choo Fly Pie.” Whether this was simply an error or a phonetic clue to the recipe’s origin went with her when she passed away.
Makes one 9-inch pie
1 disk My Homemade Pie Dough (page 3) or Pat-a-Pan Piecrust (page 4)
1 cup molasses
2/3 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
Topping:
3 1/2cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup shortening, softened
Dash of salt
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, combine the molasses, boiling water, and baking soda. Pour the mixture into the unbaked pie shell.
To make the topping: In a large bowl, mix the flour with the sugar, shortening, and salt. Spread this on top of the molasses mixture in the pie shell. Bake until the center of the pie is set, about 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack or windowsill until the pie is firm, about 45 minutes. Store any leftovers in a sealed cake safe. The pie will keep for about 5 days.
For the homemade pie dough crust: Roll the disk of pie dough out to a 1/8-inch thickness on a floured surface. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan. Trim the overhang to 1 inch. Fold the dough under and crimp the edges.
For the pat-a-pan piecrust: Pat the dough with your fingers, first at the sides of the 9-inch pie pan and then across the bottom. Flute the edges.
“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.”
—Dinah Shore, “Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy,” 1946
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