Shoe Fly Cake

...or muffins. I grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country where Shoe-Fly Pie is a specialty. While I like Shoe-Fly pie, I LOVE Shoe-Fly cake. It is another one of those recipes that takes me back to my childhood. My grandmother always made it for me because she knew how much I loved it. She sent it along every time I left for college and she made it recently for me for my birthday. She is such a good Nanny.

The starring ingredient in Shoe-Fly cake or pie is Molasses. The cake reminds me of a coffee cake. Actually I eat it a lot for breakfast or a mid-morning snack with my coffee.

The muffins...they are my experiment. Muffins are good portion control for us and easy to freeze. Portion control...who am I kidding, I ate 3 as soon as the cooled down.

Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, Snack, whenever you choose, just Enjoy!

Shoe Fly Cake

1 C Molasses
1 Tbsp. baking soda
2 C. boiling water
4 C. Flour
2 C. light brown sugar
2/3 C. Butter (room temperature)
pinch of salt

Combine the Molasses, baking soda and boiling water. Let it cool while you mix together the remaining four ingredients in a separate bowl. This flour mixture will have a crumb texture. Set aside about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of crumb mixture. Mix the two main parts together in the largest of the two bowls. Bake at 350 degrees, in a 13 x 9 pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the crumb mixture, that you set aside, on top of cake and bake about 15 minutes more or until toothpick comes out clean.

If you do decide to bake muffins instead of cake, bake for 15 minutes, sprinkle the crumb mixture on top and bake for another 12 - 15 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.
This recipe makes about 24-30 muffins, depending how you fill the muffin tins. I'd recommend filling the tins 1/2 full. I filled some too much and they baked over the pan.

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This post is linked to Tuesdays at the Table, Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tempt my Tummy Tuesday and Friday Food at Momtrends and Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

photo: FamilyBalanceSheet.org