That is the question.  No, Hamlet wasn’t Pennsylvania Dutch.  But if he had been, that is the question he would have been asking.

Today’s posting is devoted to the two distinct styles of Shoofly Pie.

Mark and I have been enjoying a wonderful weekend hosting friends – really, they are more like family – from San Francisco, Philadelphia and Atlanta.  They are here in Tucson for the Great Pumpkin Race – a 5K run/walk through pumpkin fields and a corn maze (a maize maze???) in the middle of nowhere an hour southwest of the city.  Each year, they choose a “destination” race and use it as an excuse to get together, eat, drink, shop and play.   And yes, they run the race.

Michael, from San Francisco, insisted I make two things while they are here: Shoofly Pie and a Sephardic dish of eggs poached in tomato sauce.  Nan (Michael’s mother), Claudia and Joy didn’t protest, although there is some skepticism about the eggs and tomatoes…

Most of what we know about Shoofly Pie is anecdotal.  It has been made famous by the Amish – or Pennsylvania Dutch – and it may be called so because it was so sweet that it attracted flies and they, of course, would need to be shooed!  But there are other versions of how it got its name, one of which is that it is a transliteration of a German word into English.  I have seen this referenced several times but not one of the sources can cite the German word.

I suppose, in the end, it doesn’t matter.  What does matter, though are two things when considering the pie.  First, which is the title of this posting, is whether you prefer the wet bottom or dry bottom (recipes for both follow…) and, second, when do you choose to eat your Shoofly Pie?  And perhaps those to issues depend upon one another.

I grew up liking the wet bottom pie and that is probably because I love gooey desserts.  Michael and Nan also like the wet bottom version.  And, the three of us grew up eating it as a dessert.  But the Pennsylvania Dutch never intended it to be eaten as a dessert.  Only the “English” (the Amish word for Gringo) would eat it after a meal.  For the Amish it as a breakfast cake, something to revive and re-energize them after a long and early morning in the fields.

In truth, it is more of a coffee cake than a dessert and, with that in mind, the dry bottom version makes sense.  But, this weekend in our house, it was breakfast and dessert… and mid-morning snack… and afternoon pick-me-up.  But now, more than anything, it is Monday morning and “the pie is all.” (That’s Pennsylvania Dutch for “There is no more pie.”)

– David

3/4 cup boiling water

1 pastry crust, rolled and crimped in a pie plate

1/2 cup boiling water

1 pastry crust, rolled and crimped in a pie plate

Spread the molasses-crumb mixture in the unbaked pie crust and then cover evenly with the remaining crumb mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes until crumbs and crust are golden. 

Makes one 8 or 9-inch pie.