Shoofly pie

Shoofly pieis a type ofAmerican piemade withmolassesassociated withPennsylvania Dutch cuisine. While shoo-fly pie has been a staple ofMoravian,Mennonite, andAmishfoodways, there is scant evidence concerning its origins, and most of the folktales concerning the pie are apocryphal, including the persistent legend that the name comes from flies being attracted to the sweet filling.
The nameshoo-flywas borrowed from a brand of molasses that was popular in parts of the U.S. during the late 19th century. Possibly related to theJenny Lindpie (a softgingerbreadpie), it may have originated among the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 1880s as molassescrumb cake, and is sometimes calledmolasses crumb pie.Traditionally it was not served as a dessert pie, but instead as abreakfast foodwith hotcoffee.The modern form of shoo-fly pie as a crumb cake served inpie crustwas a post-Civil War innovation, whencast iron cookwareandstovesmadepie crustmore feasible for home cooks.
Shoo-fly pie has been described as acrumb cakebaked in apie crust.The primary ingredients of the filling aremolasses,brown sugar, and water. Serving the cake in pie crust made it easier for people toeat it with their handsin the 19th century.
It comes in two different versions:wet-bottomanddry-bottom. The dry-bottom version is baked until fully set and results in a more cake-like consistency throughout. The wet-bottom version is set like cake at the top where it was mixed in with the crumbs, but the very bottom is a stickier, gooiercustard-likeconsistency.Different recipes for the wet and dry versions appeared in the early 20th century – the dry version was suitable for dunking in a cup ofcoffee.
Shoo-fly pie began as a crust-less molasses cake calledcentennial cakein 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of theDeclaration of IndependenceinPhiladelphia.There is no evidence of it being made before theAmerican Civil War.In the 1880s, home bakers added a crust to make it easier to eat alongside a cup of coffee in the morning, without plates and forks.Precursors include Jenny Lind pie, a type ofgingerbreadcake that was named for the famed Swedishoperastar,Jenny Lind, after her tour of Americain the 1850s. Because shoo-fly pie traditionally contains molasses but noeggs, historians conclude that it was typically baked during the winter, when chickens laid fewer eggs and molasses could be stored in the cold weather without fear of itfermenting. The use ofbaking powderplaces its invention firmly after the Civil War and in the 1870s, when Pennsylvania Dutch bakers began using baking powder.
A Montgomery pie is similar to a shoo-fly pie, exceptlemon juiceis used in the bottom layer.Treacle tartis a pie with a filling made fromlight treacle.
The modern name comes from a particularbrandof molasses from Philadelphia,Shoo-fly Molasses.The name "shoo-fly pie" was used in the 1880s, but its first appearance in print was afterWorld War I.The "Shoo-fly Molasses" brand was named after a popularcircusanimal that toured in Pennsylvania in the 19th century, "Shoo-fly the Boxing Mule".Themule, in turn, may have been named after a song that became popular half a century before: "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me".The pie is mentioned in the song "Shoo-Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", popularized byDinah Shorein the 1940s.
In thePennsylvania Dutch language,shoo-fly pieis calledMelassich RiwwelboiorMelassichriwwelkuche(molasses crumb cake).Before its modern name became popular during the 20th century, it wasmolasses crumb pieorsoda rivvel cake(rivelsare lumps of food).