Here is another story in our ongoing series on molasses (link and related recipe below). Anabaptists-Mennonites arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1730s fleeing religious persecution in Germany and Switzerland. The food staples they brought on boats became the basis for shoe fly pie: molasses, flour, brown sugar, molasses, salt, lard, and spices. The pie developed out of practicality; they had little to nothing else to eat until the spring. The pie has its roots in the old British Treacle Tart. More like a coffee cake with a gelatinous molasses bottom, the pie is most often today served warm with whipped cream on top and served with coffee.
