Pennsylvania Shoo Fly Cake has the same wonderful flavour of the pie ,but in cake form. You’re going to love it!
Pennsylvania Shoo Fly Cake
If you live in a state where Amish have settled and lived in, like my home state of Pennsylvania, most likely you know what Shoo Fly Pie is. The dark rich filling of Shoo Fly Pie topped with crumbs has a unique flavor that we Pennsylvanians love.
Pennsylvania Shoo Fly Cake has the same delicious flavour of pie but in cake form. I was extremely excited to make and share this with my neighbours. I watched them take their first bite and wonder what gave this moist cake it’s rich delicious flavour and dark color?
As is the case in making Shoo Fly Pie, molasses is also used to make Pennsylvania Shoo Fly Cake. There are three grades of molasses, I used the first grade, unsulfured full flavored molasses. I’m only showing you the bottle so you know what you’re looking for in the store , any brand will do.
The cake takes few ingredients to make, your reward for making it, a moist, rich cake with a unique flavor that will leave your family asking for more, Enjoy!
Pennsylvania Shoo Fly Cake
Ingredients
- 4 cups flour
- 2 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups boiling water
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 Teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
- Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13x9 inch baking pan.
- Using a large bowl, stir the flour,brown sugar,and salt together. Add the butter. Work the butter into the mixture until you have crumbs using a pastry blender or rubbing the mixture together with your fingers. Take out 1 1/2 cups of crumbs, reserve for the topping.
- In a large bowl combine the boiling water,molasses and baking soda, mix well with a whisk. Make sure to use a large bowl, when the baking soda is added it foams up quiet a bit.
- Add 1/2 the liquid to the crumb mixture. Mix until moist and smooth. Add the remaining liquid and mix until just incorporated, the batter will be slightly runny.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan, top with reserved crumbs. press crumbs into the batter lightly. Bake 45 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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The cake looks mouth watering. I am going to make this at home! Subscribing 🙂
Thank you so much!
Bunny,
Thank you so much for posting these wonderful old Amish family treasures. So many of these recipes are similar to the delicious foods my grandmother used to make when I was growing up. As the oldest of 14 children, my grandmother had to start cooking family meals before she could even read or write. Over the years several family members tried to put her wonderful cooking treasures into written form, but grandma moved around the kitchen like a whirlwind and didn’t measure anything. She didn’t even own measuring cups or measuring spoons. So when someone asked for a recipe, grandma would usually just mumble oh it isn’t anything, just a bit of this and that, and then get herself busy because she didn’t know how to answer, she didn’t know how much of much of each ingredient she had used. Unfortunately, when she passed away, most of her special recipes were lost, so it is really nice to see similar recipes show up on your blog!
Thanks Bunny!
I would have loved to have been in the kitchen with your grandma Janyne. That’s how most good home cooks did it back then. They didn’t have recipes, they did it so often they had a feel for it. There was a wonderful woman named Louise that lived up the hill from me here in Ky. She cooked the same way. Her daughter in law said she was the best cook she ever had the pleasure of being with in the kitchen. She would feed the farm hands lunch everyday, work in the tobacco barn with her husband with two little boys in tow and take care of the garden and kept the cleanest house I’ve ever been in. I guess they just didn’t have time to think about writing stuff down, they just did it. In her later years she decided she wanted to learn how to paint. You should have seen the pictures she painted Janye, all this amazing talent from a Kentucky woman living in the country. She passed away in the Spring, I miss her so much. She was a woman, a mother and wife in every sense of the word.
Hi Bunny, Thank you very much for this recipe for shoo fly cake. I was raised in Philadelphia and we went to Harleysville every Sunday of my childhood for dinner at Barb’s n Bab’s Amish restaurant. I crave this food! Although I live in Italy now, I can get the ingredients. i am thrilled to be able to make these foods the way I remember them!
Thank you Barbara.
PENNSYLVANIA SHOO FLY CAKE by Bunny’s Warm Oven was very fascinating. I will definitely try the recipe.
Thank you Ruprekha.
Almost identical to my family’s recipe! The recipe my mom gave me didn’t have a bake time, so I followed the directions from here. Pennsylvania Shoofly cake is the best!
Thank you Laura
the almost amazing cake recipe keep it up