Shoofly pie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shoofly pie (or shoo-fly pie) is a molasses pie considered traditional among the Pennsylvania Dutch and also known in Southern cooking.
The more common version of the recipe — sometimes referred to as "wet bottom" — consists of a layer of sweet, gooey molasses beneath a crumb topping sometimes compared to that of a coffee cake. In contrast, a "dry bottom" shoofly pie is more thoroughly mixed into a cake-like consistency.
The dessert has earned quite a reputation in the "Dutch Country" of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where its distinctive flavor and texture is quite alluring to tourists.
A Montgomery pie is similar to a shoofly pie though lemon juice is usually added to the bottom layer and buttermilk to the topping.[1]. A chess pie is also similar, though unlayered and made with corn syrup.
[edit] Trivia
- The term first appeared in print in 1926.[2] The name is commonly thought to arise from the fact that the molasses in the pie is so attractive to flies that they have to be constantly "shooed" away.[3]
- The song "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" was first performed by June Christy singing with Stan Kenton and his orchestra; a cover version performed by Dinah Shore in 1946 was her first top ten hit. Present-day rights to the song are held by Paul McCartney's MPL Communications.[4]
- Shoo Fly Pie is also the name of a teacher resource Web site, www.shooflypie.co.uk set up to promote creative teaching by offering free resources and to nurture a community of like-minded educationalists.
- As of July 2006, "I break for Shoofly Pie" is the official bumper sticker of the state of Pennsylvania. [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Montgomery Pies for Summertime Dessert, from the website of the cooperative extension service at Penn State
- ^ The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink (ISBN 0-86730-784-6), by John Mariani.
- ^ History notes on pie and pastry, from the website of a Morris County, New Jersey reference librarian
- ^ Shoo Fly Pie And Apple Pan Dowdy, with a sample of the Dinah Shore recording (from the MPL Communications website)
- ^ VisitPA.com bumper sticker contest
[edit] External links
- "Pebble-Dash" or Shoo-Fly Pie, a page from a 1915 cookbook (Mary At The Farm And Book Of Recipes Compiled During Her Visit Among The "Pennsylvania Germans") at the website of the Michigan State University Library
- Shoo-fly, don't Amish me, a March 2006 Yale Daily News article on the pie which includes a recipe
- Berk's Web, Authentic Berk's County Recipes, several recipes for shoofly pie, including both "wet-bottom" and "dry-bottom" varieties
