Shoofly Pie (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Shoofly pie is to the Pennsylvania Dutch as pecan pie is to a Southerner. Shoofly pie is made of brown sugar and molasses as well as flour, eggs, butter and the other basic you'd most likely find in a crumb cake recipe. Many believe they call it shoofly pie because the Pennsylvania Dutch specialty is so sugary you might need to shoo away the flies. Others believe the pie was deliberately set out to lure flies away from the choicer foods on the table. A lot of vintage pies have great backstories, and shoofly pie is no exception.

dough for single-crust pie
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup molasses
1 large egg, room temperature
1½ tsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 cup boiling water
1 large egg yolk, room temperature, lightly beaten

Topping:
1½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ tsp. baking soda
pinch sea salt
6 Tbsp. butter, cold, cubed

On a floured surface, roll dough to fit a 9" deep-dish pie plate. Trim and flute edge. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C/200°C fan, Gas Mark 7).

For the Filling:
Mix brown sugar, molasses, egg, flour and baking soda. Gradually stir in boiling water; cool completely.

Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack 15 minutes. Remove foil and pie weights; brush crust with egg yolk. Bake 5 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4).

In another bowl, whisk together first four topping. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add filling to crust; sprinkle with topping. Cover edge of pie with foil.

Bake until filling is set and golden brown, 45-50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator.

Shoofly pie can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator up to five days.

Nutrition:  1 piece: 540 calories, 22g fat (13g saturated fat), 99mg cholesterol, 630mg sodium, 82g carbohydrate (49g sugars, 1g fiber), 6g protein.