I CAN STILL REMEMBER my first encounter, as a 6-year-old, with a gooey, molasses-heavy slice of shoofly pie. It made a mess of my shirt and immediately became one of my favorite things to eat. The pie has a long history; according to William Woys Weaver (see “A Pie With Punch”), shoofly pie evolved in the 1880s from the 1876 centennial cake created in Philadelphia to commemorate 100 years of American independence.
Shoofly pie has a pastry crust and a bittersweet, custardy filling made from flour, brown sugar, butter, lots of molasses, and egg, all accented with warm spices. There are two distinct styles eaten in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The dry-bottom style has a moist cake-like texture throughout. The
