Shoo-fly Cake
Okay, I know I've spent a whole week filling my blog with stories about my trip to Pennsylvania when this is supposed to be about Haxtun, but bear with me for one more little post - I promise it's a sweet one!
One thing Big Roy talks about a lot when Pennsylvania is brought up is shoo-fly pie. It's a molasses pie. Big Roy especially prefers a wet-bottom shoo-fly pie, which means that the top is crumbly and cake-like, while the bottom is gooey and the crust is a little soggy with a molasses-flavored syrup!
For those of you who have never had it and think it sounds a little questionable, let me reassure you that it is a good pie. If you've ever got molasses on your finger, licked it off and then been tempted to dip your finger in again, then you'll like this pie.
Between the two times that I've been to PA, I've only had shoo-fly pie four times at restaurants. I was told each time by Roy's family that those were all bad examples of what a shoo-fly pie should be. The biggest complaint was that the restaurants used light molasses, so the pie was sorta sweet without much of the unique molasses flavor you'd expect. I did have Roy's shoo-fly pie once, which was very good and now I feel like I have a basis to compare all these other pies to.
When I got home from this trip, once again disappointed in the pie quality, I got this idea in my head that I'd surprise everyone by making a pie myself. I went on to AllRecipes.com and searched. I got a handful of promising recipes, but then I got to reading the comments. It turns out that everyone has their own idea of what a shoo-fly pie should be like (like their mother's, of course!) and none of them agree. After studying the recipes, photos, and comments for way too long, I just couldn't figure out which one was right for us, so I gave up!
And then I made a shoo-fly cake. It's a good old stand-by recipe out of an old cookbook that my husband has. It tastes just the right way every time (well almost) and it's very quick to put together. If you want to try the taste of shoo-fly without the hassle of sifting through pie recipes, try this:
Shoo-fly Cake
4 cup flour
2 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
In a large bowl (I said large now!) cut together ingredients until they're crumbs. Take out one cup of crumbs and set aside.
Add to the large bowl:
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup dark molasses
2 cups hot water
Mix and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the cup of crumbs on top. Bake at 350 for about 45-55 minutes. Test middle with a sharp knife to see if it's done.
Seriously, can you resist that perfectly moist, subtly sweet molasses goodness?
One thing Big Roy talks about a lot when Pennsylvania is brought up is shoo-fly pie. It's a molasses pie. Big Roy especially prefers a wet-bottom shoo-fly pie, which means that the top is crumbly and cake-like, while the bottom is gooey and the crust is a little soggy with a molasses-flavored syrup!
For those of you who have never had it and think it sounds a little questionable, let me reassure you that it is a good pie. If you've ever got molasses on your finger, licked it off and then been tempted to dip your finger in again, then you'll like this pie.
Between the two times that I've been to PA, I've only had shoo-fly pie four times at restaurants. I was told each time by Roy's family that those were all bad examples of what a shoo-fly pie should be. The biggest complaint was that the restaurants used light molasses, so the pie was sorta sweet without much of the unique molasses flavor you'd expect. I did have Roy's shoo-fly pie once, which was very good and now I feel like I have a basis to compare all these other pies to.
When I got home from this trip, once again disappointed in the pie quality, I got this idea in my head that I'd surprise everyone by making a pie myself. I went on to AllRecipes.com and searched. I got a handful of promising recipes, but then I got to reading the comments. It turns out that everyone has their own idea of what a shoo-fly pie should be like (like their mother's, of course!) and none of them agree. After studying the recipes, photos, and comments for way too long, I just couldn't figure out which one was right for us, so I gave up!
And then I made a shoo-fly cake. It's a good old stand-by recipe out of an old cookbook that my husband has. It tastes just the right way every time (well almost) and it's very quick to put together. If you want to try the taste of shoo-fly without the hassle of sifting through pie recipes, try this:
Shoo-fly Cake
4 cup flour
2 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
In a large bowl (I said large now!) cut together ingredients until they're crumbs. Take out one cup of crumbs and set aside.
Add to the large bowl:
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup dark molasses
2 cups hot water
Mix and put in a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the cup of crumbs on top. Bake at 350 for about 45-55 minutes. Test middle with a sharp knife to see if it's done.
Seriously, can you resist that perfectly moist, subtly sweet molasses goodness?
Posted by Susan at March 15, 2010 
Categories: Rural Living
Tags: cake recipe pie. pennsylvania shoo fly lancaster molasses
Categories: Rural Living
Tags: cake recipe pie. pennsylvania shoo fly lancaster molasses
I think I've just been inspired, especially since I have an over abundance of molasses in my house!
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