Classic wet-bottom Shoo Fly Pie is perfection in both texture and flavor. It's not hard to make, sets up to a barely woogly center, and the crisp, crunchy-yet-sandy streusel is a fantastictopping. The streusel that is baked in with the filling helps it to set up as the starches in the flour gel. It's a genius pie for lean times and not so lean times. I do hope you give it a try.
1 9" pie shell(not deep dish), docked and frozen* (See Note)
For the Streusel
4.5ozall purpose flour(about 1 cup)
4.7ozdark or light brown sugar(about 2/3 cup, packed)
3Tablespoonsunsalted buttercold
For the Molasses Syrup
9ozmolasses(3/4 cup)
4.5ozhot water(1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon)
½teaspoonbaking soda
heavy pinch kosher salt(about 1/4 teaspoon)
1large eggbeaten
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F.
To Make the Streusel
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and the brown sugar.
Rub in the butter very well so there are no little bits of butter remaining. The mixture should look about like cornmeal and should clump together when you squeeze it and then sort of fall apart if you poke it.
Squeeze some together so you have some pebbles of streusel and leave some of it sandy.
To Make the Molasses Syrup
In a medium bowl, whisk together the molasses and hot water. Thoroughly whisk in the baking soda and salt. Mixture may get sort of frothy and will definitely lighten in color. Thoroughly whisk in the beaten egg.
To Assemble and Bake
Mix about half the streusel into the molasses syrup and pour into the prepared pie crust.
Sprinkle the rest of the streusel in an even layer over the top of the pie.
Carefully place the pie on the center rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the heat to 350F.
Continue baking for about 15 more minutes then cover the pie loosely with foil to prevent excessive browning of the crust. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the pie is nicely puffed up all over. It will settle as it cools.
Serve warm or barely warm with lightly sweetened (or even unsweetened) whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.
Notes
Since shoo fly pie filling is so wet, your bottom crust can sort of dissolve or get soggy. This didn't bother me. If it bothers you, you can blind bake and egg wash your crust to make it "waterproof." Please see the Joe Pastry post for instructions.
Storage
Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days. Slice pieces about 45 minutes before serving so they can come up to room temperature.