Shoo-Fly Cake is an iconic Lancaster County recipe and you can find it – along with Shoo-Fly Pie – in most Amish or Mennonite stands and stores in my area.

The main ingredient in Shoo-fly cakes and pies is molasses, which is added not solely plain but also due to the brown sugar. (Did you know you can make your own brown sugar with molasses and regular granulated sugar?) Molasses is one of the syrups that is made from processing cane sugar. In Great Britain it is one of the various forms of treacle, and it’s believed that Shoo-Fly Cake is a variation of a Treacle Tart traditional to England.

Because it’s made without egg, some food historians believe it was a winter dish created when hens naturally stop laying as the days grow shorter. We have hens of our own and because we do not use artificial light in the chicken coop, we find that our girls stop laying around November and then resume in March/April. Giving them that break and not forcing them to lay during the winter months seems to increase their life span and overall health (our personal experience).

The name “Shoo-Fly“ is attributed to a few different things, but no one is 100% sure how the famous dessert really got its name. Some believe it was due to needing to sit it out on a windowsill after baking it in a hearth or wood stove and needing to shoo flies away. If it really was a winter dish, I’m not so certain that applies here in PA, but maybe…?

Other people say the name originated from the popular tune, which had the lyrics “Shoo, fly – don’t bother me!” But I don’t personally know how that applies to the dessert.

My favorite explanation for the moniker is that it was named after the famous boxing mule at the time, Shoofly. He was used to brand many different products, one of which happened to be a molasses! So while I’m not certain where the name came from either, after having lived in Lancaster County for 30 years now – it seems to make the most sense to me…so I’ll stick to that one!

Just like there are a few different stories about the origins of the name of this dessert, there are many recipe sources as well. This particular recipe is taken from one of the plethora of church cookbooks I’ve collected over the years (recipe addict, remember?!) — Sharing Our Best (second edition) put together by The Worship Center in Lancaster PA in 1992. This Shoo-Fly Cake recipe is credited to Hannah B. Smucker and is super easy to put together for a quick snack or for company. The original recipe calls for 4 c flour, 2 c brown sugar, 3/4 c shortening, 1 c molasses, 1 Tbsp baking soda and 2 c boiling water.

I decided to try this in an 8×8 pan since the kids are all grown and mostly gone, rather than the 9×13 one specified. So here’s what I did:

First I preheated my oven to 350*F. I keep an oven thermometer in my oven and try to check the temperature at least once a week or so to be sure it is heating properly. There’s nothing worse than taking time to prepare a recipe and realize your oven is not working! Well — there may be a few other kitchen disaster scenarios…but that’s one of the worst!

In a mixing bowl I used a pastry cutter to blend 2 c flour, 1 c brown sugar and 4.5 Tbsp shortening. I reserved 1/2 cup for the crumb topping.

In a separate bowl I combined 1/2 c molasses with 1 1/2 tsp baking soda and then added 1 c boiling water. The mixture will appear foamy. I stirred to make sure the baking soda was incorporated and not lumpy, then poured it into my 8×8 pan.

Once my wet mixture was in the pan, I stirred in the dry mixture (except for the 1/2 c reserved crumbs) and tried to mix as thoroughly as possible. (Make sure you get into the corners.)

Finally, once the ingredients seemed incorporated enough, I sprinkled the reserved crumb mixture on top as evenly as possible, so no one would get some without crumbs! (If your family loves crumbs, maybe make a bit extra!)

Place the pan in your oven and bake for 45 minutes. I usually have the rack placed in the center. If you’re aware of your ovens hot/cold spots, you may need to rotate your pan halfway through baking, but that may not be necessary if your oven usually gives you consistent results. I’ve found that it’s important to check my baked products in both the center and on opposite ends to assure even results, but that often applies more to cookies unless I’m making a large sheet cake or using multiple pans at once.

I like to make some homemade whipped cream with just heavy cream and a little sugar to serve with my shoo-fly cake to cut some of the sweetness, but I personally think it’s also good warm with ice cream or cooled down and just eaten plain.

I hope you have a chance to play in the kitchen and test out this really easy recipe!