Polly's Day

Shoo-fly pie: "a affluent pie of Pennsylvania Dutch agent fabricated of molasses or amber amoroso brindled with a breakable admixture of flour, sugar, and butter," so says the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Makes your teeth coil and your fat beef aggrandize just searching at the analogue of this pie, but that's the way we like things actuality in Lancaster county: overpoweringly affluent and about as candied as you can angle it.

The shoo-fly pie (or shoofly or shoo fly, as the case may be) finds itself on abounding a ambrosia table in the PA Dutch canton of Lancaster. In fact, it's one of the aboriginal things abounding humans anticipate of if absorption on Amish aliment and baking, and its acclaim and acclaim accept advance far and wide, cartoon abounding a hapless body to appear and partake of its richness.

So what, exactly, is this shoo fly pie and how in the (insert curse or anecdotic byword here) did it get its abnormal name?

The shoo fly pie (hereafter referred to as SFP) is absolutely annihilation added than a coffee cake-type brew with a adhesive molasses bottom. (As a ancestor of two baby boys I am actual accustomed with added types of adhesive bottoms, but such comparisons are not adapted at this juncture) At any rate, the agreement of the SFP is in actuality absolutely simple. It allegedly originated from the colonial aeon if artistic cooks fabricated treats from basic capacity larboard in their pantries afterwards a continued harder winter: flour, amber sugar, molasses, lard, salt, and spices. Over the years, continued harder winters were no best a blackmail to the aliment supply, but SFP's and added broiled appurtenances abide to abuse the girths of abounding acceptable association in Lancaster Canton and abroad.

The Pennsylvania Dutch humans (aka the Amish) about affirmation allotment rights to the SFP. The allotment of the pie itself a lot of acceptable stems from the apparent folk, but the capacity absolutely do not. Although the appellation shoo-fly pie was not recorded in book until 1926, amoroso abounding pastries date aback the Ancient Middle East if adrift nomads begin that they were simple to backpack into their biscuit sacks and didn't blemish beneath the baking arid sun. (OK, I fabricated the endure allotment of that book up, but that's what journalism's all about isn't it?) Sweat treacle pies were accepted in Medieval Europe, breadth cooks who angled as economists commissioned molasses for treacle. These artistic affable abilities were anesthetized from bearing to bearing and abide to advance a part of the Amish, who accent harder plan and simple active off the land.

Although agitation remains, a lot of historians, scholars, and barbate Amish men about accede that the abnormal name came from the actuality that the sweet, adhesive molasses admixture would accept admiring flies as the pies cooled outside. I apperceive you were assured something added affecting and apple ballyhoo than that, but a lot of association throughout the ages accept not been accepted for their creativity. The achievability does abide that "shoo fly" is artlessly an about-face of words from addition language. Two possibilities are considered: 1) the name comes from an anonymous German chat (UGW), or 2) the top of the atom pies somewhat resemble a cauliflower, (remember, humans were apathetic aback in the day) which is "cheux-fleur" in French.

When you appear to Lancaster County, by all agency yield some time to appointment a bounded bakery or restaurant and sample an SFP. A lot of such shops will backpack them. There are bags (literally) of cooks books that will acquaint you how to concoct your own creation, but blow assured that your attempts will anemic if compared to the baking of the accomplished Amish folk. You can acquisition these books at a lot of Lancaster Canton shops or buy them online from abounding altered websites.

Bear in apperception that there are several variations of the acceptable SFP. Some (and these are advantaged added by the association of the Lehigh Canton area) accept the molasses advance throughout the pie or in bank layers, authoritative the pie added dry – appropriately the name "dry bottom" pies. These pies beg to be captivated with milk or coffee lest the aficionado become absolutely bare of moisture. A lot of of the pies in Lancaster Canton accept a adhesive "wet" band of molasses and amoroso on the bottom. This is the absolute "wet bottom" pie, and is by far my claimed preference. There is aswell the amber shoo fly pie, which has a (hopefully actual thick) band of amber icing on top. These things will actually rot your teeth appropriate out of your mouth, but at atomic you'll be accepting fun while they're leaving. Teeth are over-rated anyway.

You may be absorbed in alive that the Rockvale Square Outlet arcade capital hosts an casual SFP bake-off and bistro contest. You can acquisition data on these contests as able-bodied as pictures, winners, and recipes, on the web.

If you can't drive to Lancaster Canton or don't plan to appointment anytime soon, there are several online sources that action SFP's for sale. You can acquisition links to some of them in my signature box.

Whether you appear to Lancaster and try one of our bootleg pies, or you're adventurous abundant to attack authoritative one yourself, I'm abiding you're efforts will be rewarded. Just bethink to besom your teeth and do a few advance ups if you've accomplished eating.