Shoofly Pie

Let me just say, I was wrong. For this I apologize. I was wrong, but so was Marion Cunningham. Not Richie and Joanie's mom, silly, but she of The Fannie Farmer Baking Book. Shoofly pie is not merely a sugar pie. Nor is it a translucent custard. It is something altogether more dark and complex and strange.

Have you ever had chocolate pudding cake? Mind you, this is not a chocolate lava cake - the kind that was popping up on nearly every menu for a time, from fancy-dancy view restaurants to greasy spoons - which is really just an underbaked chocolate cupcake. No. Chocolate pudding cake is a science project that took an unexpected turn. A proto-brownie, sprinkled with cocoa and sugar, drenched with boiling water then shoved in the oven until you end up with a fluffy, rich chocolate cake floating on top of a molten lake of fudge sauce. Who thinks of these things?

As it turns out, shoofly pie is something akin to a molasses flavored coffeecake concealing an obsidian custard in a tender flaky pie crust.

By the way, today's pie crust was on the right side of perfect.

These kinds of desserts really highlight the dominance of French cooking techniques in our modern kitchens. Auguste Escoffier and Fernand Point and Julia Child really did a number on those weird English recipes you find poking around cookbooks from the teens and twenties. Boiling water used to be a key ingredient. So did dried fruits, especially raisins. A few months ago I had a cookie consisting of a lemon dough wrapped around raisins that had been boiled within an inch of their lives and then highly spiced. It was an interesting snack, and somebody's granny was famous for them. But when is the last time you ran into something like that at your local corporate coffee shop? Another one that intrigues me is mock apple pie, made with soda crackers and lemon juice. This is probably just my current fascination with Depression make-do cooking talking. Of course, a lot of these old recipes are unbearably heavy. No wonder dyspepsia was such a common ailment. Mincemeat pie with actual meat and a little beef tallow thrown in for good measure, anyone? It's an acquired taste, I'm sure.

Some of these weird concoctions are worth saving, though. Shoofly pie is certainly one of them.

Shoofly Pie

Pastry for single crust pie
1 C A.P. flour
1 C brown sugar
4 T butter
1 C black strap molasses
1/2 C golden syrup
2 eggs
1 1/2 C water
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375. Roll pastry into a 13" circle and place into a 9" pie plate. Tuck overhanging edges under and press the pastry into your desired edge. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Mix flour and brown sugar to combine. Cut the butter into the flour sugar mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs together. Pour molasses and golden syrup into the eggs and beat to combine. Set aside.
Bring the water to a boil in a heavy saucepan and then add baking soda and salt. This will foam and bubble as soon as the soda is added.
Temper the syrup and egg mixture with the boiling water, then pour this into the rest of the water, stirring constantly. Pour the crumb mixture into the molasses mixture all at once. Mix lightly until just combined - it will be lumpy.
Remove the pastry from the freezer. Prick the crust in several places with a fork or paring knife to prevent air bubbles. Pour the filling into the crust.
Bake the pie at 375 for 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 350 and bake an additional 20-35 minutes, until the edges are puffed and the center is set but jiggles slightly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at least 30 minutes before slicing. Serve with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream.