Wiki offers this insight: "The term 'shoo-fly pie' first appeared in print in 1926. The pie may get its name because the molasses attracts flies that must be 'shooed' away, but is more likely an anglicization of '
soufflé', the well-known dessert." (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoofly_pie)
But this site,
Food Timeline, has a little different spin:
Shoofly pie
Shoofly pie has such an interesting name, it must have an equally interesting history. It certainly does!
Many food history reference books attribute the origin of shoofly pie to the Pennslyvania Dutch. A closer examination of culinary evidence suggests this group may be able to claim the name, but maybe not the recipe. This resiliant sugar-based formula is capable of adapting through the ages according to ingredient availability and cook ingenuity. Food historians tell us sugar-filled pastries originated in the Ancient Middle East. Sweet treacle pies were popular all over Medieval Europe. Renaissance diners preferred similar compostions made with fine white sugar. These recipes were introduced to America by European settlers from several nations. Molasses was often substituted for treacle in colonial American recipes. Some folks say the "original shoofly recipe" is descended from Centennial cake. Both desserts have striking similarities.
WHY SHOOFLY? According to the book Rare Bits, Unusual Origins of Popular Recipes, by Patricia Bunning Stevens (p. 262) shoofly pie was created when "the pie-loving Pennsylvania Dutch ...found themselves short of baking supplies in the late winter and early spring...all that was left in the pantry were flour, lard, and molasses. From these sparse ingredients they fashioned Shoo-Fly Pie and found that their families liked it so well that they soon made it all year round. The unusual name is presumed to come from the fact that pools of sweet, sticky molasses sometimes formed on the surface of the pie while it was cooling, inevitably attracting flies." According to the The Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink, by John Mariani (p. 293) the term "Shoo Fly Pie" was not recorded in print until 1926.
"Shoofly pie. In American cuisine, shoofly pie is a sort of treacle tart, made with molasses or brown sugar and topped with a sugar, flour, and butter crumble. It's name is generally taken to be an allusion to the fact that it is so attractive to flies that they have to be constantly shooed away from it, but the fact that it originated as a Pennsylvania-Dutch specialty suggests the possibility that shoofly is an alteration of an unidentified German word."
---An A-Z of Food and Drink, John Ayto [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 2002 (p. 310-1)
WHAT IS AMISH SHOOFLY?
There are two basic variations on the traditional Amish Shoofly Pie recipe."Traditional" Shoo-fly pies are made with either a "wet bottom" (soft filling and crumb topping) or "dry bottom" (crumb topping is mixed into the filling), which is commonly served for breakfast."
If you are looking for a Shoo-Fly pie recipe from the early 18th century, try this one from "The Thirteen Colonies Cookbook," by Mary Donovan. On page 135 appears this recipe attributed to Magdelena Hoch Keim of Lobachsville, Pennsylvania. (1730--?). This recipe has been modernized for contemporary kitchens: Wet-Bottomed Shoofly Pie
3/4 cup Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp each nutmeg, ginger, and ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tablespoons shortening
1 egg yolk, beaten well
1/2 cup barrel molasses
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 tsp baking soda
Piecrust dough for 9-inch pie Combine flour, sugar, spices, and salt with the shortening. Work into crumbs with your hands. Add beaten egg yolk to molasses. Pour boiling water over soda until dissolved; then add to molasses mixture. Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry and fill it with the molasses mixture. Top with the crumb mixture. Bake at 400 degrees until the crust browns, about 10 minutes. Reduce to 325 degrees and bake firm.
Original recipes for "molasses pie" read like this:Four eggs--beat the Whites separate--one Teacupful of brown Sugar, half a Nutmeg, two Tablespoonfuls of Butter; beat them will together; stir in one Teacupful and a half of Molasses, and then add the Whites of Eggs. Bake on Pastry.
(Mrs. Cole's Recipes, c. 1837--reprinted in The Williamsburg Art of Cookery, Helen Bullock [Colonial Williamsburg:Williamsburg VA] 1937 (p. 127)
Related foods? Chess Pie (aka sugar pie) & Mongtomery Pie,
