Author Notes
The aforementioned farm on which I grew up was in Benton County, Tennessee, at that time the largest producer of sorghum molasses in the nation. The production of "new sorghum" from the mills each October or November was the cause for a frenzy of gluttony that involved sorghum, biscuits and butter (and bacon and, for some reason, home-canned tomatoes), gingerbread, and all manner of desserts. This particular one is a recipe one of the ladies in the nearby Mennonite community gave my mother, and we made it every year during "new sorghum" season. Sorghum molasses, to me, is the quintessential taste of fall. - Kayb —Kayb
Test Kitchen Notes
It was really interesting to work with sorghum, having read about it in Edna Lewis' books and other Southern recipe books, but never having searched it out. I finally found Bourbon Vanilla Sorghum at Whole Foods and thought that neither Bourbon nor vanilla was a bad addition to a pie! The pie tastes something like pecan pie, without the nuts, or a maple sugar pie I remember from my childhood. Sweet, slightly chewy, caramelish, it screams for a side of vanilla ice cream. – MrsWheelbarrow —The Editors
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Ingredients
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1
pie crust, your favorite recipe
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3/4 cup
flour
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2 tablespoons
butter
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1/2 cup
sugar
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1/4 cup
sorghum molasses
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1/4 cup
boiling water
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1/3 teaspoon
baking soda
Directions
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Line a pie plate with the crust. Fill with pie weights and bake for about 10 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and lower heat to 325.
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Crumble together flour, sugar and butter until mixture resembles a coarse cornmeal. Set aside.
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Combine molasses, water and soda and beat with a mixer until mixture becomes fluffy. Add flour mixture and fold into molasses. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.
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If desired, use powdered sugar and a stencil and dust top of pie.
I'm a business professional who learned to cook early on, and have expanded my tastes and my skills as I've traveled and been exposed to new cuisines and new dishes. I love fresh vegetables, any kind of protein on the grill, and breakfasts that involve fried eggs with runny yolks. My recipes tend toward the simple and the Southern, with bits of Asia or the Mediterranean or Mexico thrown in here and there. And a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a float in the lake, as pictured, is a pretty fine lunch!
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