A couple of weeks ago I told you about the Shoo-Fly pie I made. That recipe by Faye Martin is the same as this one available online. You'll notice the author of this recipe says "My mother had a good recipe and our family really enjoyed it, but the best one I have ever found and used came to me from Fred Waring." I went in search of the Fred Waring recipe and couldn't find anything definitive on the Internet. I did find a seller on eBay who had this vintage booklet: Twenty Recipes That Men Like by Fred Waring. I bid on the item (I was the only bidder!) and received it a few days ago.

Here is the Shoo-Fly Pie recipe from this booklet. I think it is clearly the recipe Faye Martin modified to use "healthier" ingredients. Waring's recipe uses white flour and sugar instead of Martin's whole wheat pastry flour and honey. The quantities are modified a little and the Waring recipe requires a deep pie pan.

Pastry for crust to line a deep 9-inch pie pan

Filling:

1 cup molasses

1 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter

Line a deep 9-inch pie pan with pastry; flute or crimp edge.

Combine molasses, water, and soda in a saucepan; bring to boil, stirring well. Set aside to cool slightly.

Sift next six dry ingredients together; add butter; cut in with pastry blender or two knives to crumb consistency.

Spread about one-fourth of crumbs over pastry in pan. Add cooled molasses mixture; put remaining crumbs on top, spreading evenly; or put layer of crumbs over pastry, then alternate molasses mixture and crumbs to fill pan, having a good layer of crumbs on top. Bake in moderately hot over, 425 F, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool before serving.

A few observations after following this recipe:

I wouldn't describe the flour-butter mixture as a crumb consistency. It was more like slightly damp sand. The Martin recipe will agglomerate into crumbs or lumps because of the sticky honey.

I heated the cup of water to boiling in a large saucepan, then added the molasses and baking soda and stirred. The solution foams significantly and would no doubt run over the pan if heated for long. I heated until the foam was near the top of the pan, then removed from heat and allowed to cool.

In the pie pan I alternated between the flour mixture and the molasses solution, for a total of about four "layers", finishing with the flour mixture. I should have reserved a bit more for the top layer.

The filling will rise considerably. It really does require a deep pan. It falls a little after cooling.

Here is the result:

The texture is cake-like at the bottom and more like custard nearer the top. The flavor combines the strong molasses foundation with sufficient sweetness and just a suggestion of spice. It goes great with coffee.

I just made a Shoo-Fly pie. I used to make this often, but it has been years since I last made one. The recipe I've always used is from Naturally Delicious Desserts and Snacks by Faye Martin, published in 1978 by Rodale Press. I use whole wheat pastry flour for the filling but use regular unbleached flour for the crust. I found the same recipe online here. Wonderful combination of textures and flavors: the moist cake-like molasses, butter, honey and spices in the filling with the slightly salty flaky crust. Here's the result: