Lancaster County Wet Bottom Shoo Fly Pie

I'm celebrating my roots today.  Well...okay, not really.  My boyfriend has been asking for a shoo fly pie so I finally buckled down and made one.  Shoo Fly Pie? What the heck is that? Well, basically, it is molasses pie.  It's got a gooey bottom (i.e., wet bottom...um, how crude, by the way) and a crumby top (hahaha).  It is a very traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dessert.  Apparently, when the first of the Mennonites and Amish settled in Pennsylvania, they could only bring items with them that were non-perishable and that could survive the long boat trip (makes sense).  These staples were items like brown sugar, molasses, flour, lard, salt and spices.  Hence, the women had to make due with what they had so they concocted this deliciousness called a Shoo Fly Pie.  The origin of the name is not 100% known but the rumor is that they had outdoor ovens and because the molasses in the pie was so sticky and sweet, it attracted flies.  Now how is that for a history lesson?  Don't say I never taught you anything.

I found this recipe in my Grandmother's recipe index so authentic is definitely what you are getting here.

crumb topping.
1 cup flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 tsp. salt


filling.
1 cup boiling water
1 cup light molasses (I used dark because...I have no idea what light molasses is)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Mix crumb topping ingredients together, using a pastry blender, until very fine. Set aside. 
3. Blend together water, molasses and baking soda.
4. Mix in egg.
5. Pour into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell* (they say to use a deep dish pie crust here, but I didn't. Maybe that is why my crumb topping was so crumby).
6. Using a large spoon, mix the crumb mixture well into the molasses filling
7. Bake 35-40 minutes.

*Okay, so here's the deal.  It is really easy to make pie crust and it tastes sooo much better than pre-made.  But guess what, I was feeling lazy when I baked this and I didn't feel like getting depressed because I can never crimp my edges nicely.  So I did it.  I used a pre-made.  Yea, I knew it was wrong but I did it anyway.  And I liked it. Um...and it looked a lot prettier than mine ever does.  Didn't taste as good though.