The challenge: Choose a recipe from either Alicia or Annie's recipe sites, make it, shoot it, and blog it.
The stakes: The Holiday Baker's Bundle, a collection of collapsible bowls, measuring cups, cookie cutters, etc.
...Bring it on!
I chose the take another crack at the odd-ball Amish Shoofly Pie, a molasses pie of Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch origin. I've tried making this simple dessert before, and had mixed results. The pie was overall good, but the crust (having been par baked before adding the filling) came out, shall we say, "over-caramelized," i.e. burnt.
Now it was time for Round 2, and this time I'd call it a sweet success!
I stayed true to the original recipe except for two things: First, I cut the recipe in half to make one pie, rather than two. Second, I was aching to try my new tart pan, so in lieu of a pie pan, a tart pan it was. I also reduced the baking temps a bit, same with the time.
Amish Shoofly Tart
Crumb Mixture
1 c. flour
6 tbsp. brown sugar
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
SYRUP MIXTURE
1/2 c. molasses
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. hot water
1/2 tsp. baking soda, dissolved in the hot water
1 (unbaked) 11" tart crust
Instructions
Mix crumb ingredients together until crumbs are formed. In separate bowl, mix syrup ingredients together. Pour the syrup into the tart shell, then top with crumbs.
Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 45 more minutes, until the crust is, as Alton Brown would say, golden brown and delicious.
Cool completely before cutting.
If you've never tried shoofly pie, the flavor can be hard to describe. As I ate it, I couldn't help but think that I had tasted this somewhere before, but where? Then it hit me! Shoofly pie tastes remarkably like a S'mores Pop-Tart, only much better!
