Shoofly Pie

Ingredients

• For the shell
• 1 unbaked single pie crust, 23 cm, fitted into pie dish, edges crimped
• For the filling
• 240 ml dark molasses, full-flavoured dark molasses; not blackstrap, not light
• 100 g brown sugar
• 240 ml boiling water
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• For the crumb topping
• 200 g plain flour
• 100 g brown sugar
• 85 g unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

Method

1. 1
   Heat the oven to 175°C. Fit the unbaked crust into a 23 cm pie dish and crimp the edges; refrigerate while the filling is prepared.
2. 2
   Combine the bicarbonate of soda with the boiling water in a large bowl and stir until dissolved. Add the dark molasses and brown sugar and stir to a uniform, deeply dark liquid. The soda reacts immediately with the acid of the molasses; the mixture will foam slightly. This is the structural event that lightens the filling and creates the gooey, custardy bottom layer — this is where the wet-bottom character of the pie lives or dies.
3. 3
   In a separate bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar for the crumb. Add the cold butter pieces and cut together with fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse, irregular crumbs — no pieces of butter larger than a small pea should remain visible.
4. 4
   Pour the molasses filling into the chilled pie shell. Scatter the crumb topping evenly over the surface of the filling; do not press it down.
5. 5
   Bake at 175°C for 35 to 40 minutes. During baking the crumb partially sinks into the filling while some remains proud on the surface. The pie is done when the edges of the filling are set and the top is deep golden brown; the centre may tremble very slightly when the dish is moved but should not be liquid.
6. 6
   Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. The filling firms as it cools, fixing the three-layer structure: gooey molasses bottom, cakey middle, crumbly top. The pie is ready to cut when it no longer feels warm at the centre when touched through the dish.