Pilgrims and Pioneers: Shoofly Pie

Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Shoofly Pie

I have heard about Shoofly Pie ever since I can rememeber but never really knew what was in it- so I did some research and found a recipe for those of you who did not know like me.

If you actually make one please let me know!

Shoofly Pie

1 unbaked 9" pie crust

Crumb Topping

1 cup flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/3 cup butter

Liquid Bottom

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup light molasses

1/2 cup dark corn syrup

1 tsp. baking soda

1 egg beaten

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix the crumb topping together until you get fine crumbs. Set aside.

Mix molasses and corn syrup and add boiling water- mix well. Add baking soda and beaten egg and mix well again. Spoon mixture into the unbaked pie shell, spoon the crumb topping onto the top of the pie. Place the pie on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes or until pie is medium set and dark brown. Can be served warm or cold and topped with whip cream.

This is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert. The ingredients are ones that were long lasting on the long ocean journey the German immigrants made to America.

Legend has it that the unusual name for this pie came from the fact that pies were sat in windowsills to cool and due to the sweet ingredients the cooks would have to constantly shoo flies away from the pie.