Shoofly Pie from Phillis Pellman Good

This cakey pie, with a name that has produced a myriad of reasons for its existence, may have its roots in the early bakeovens of Pennsylvania. Dense cakes with heavy dough were put into the bakeovens following the weekly bread-baking, which required the hottest fires. This hybrid cake within a pie shell weathered the bakeoven well. It was with the advent of the kitchen range and its more easily controlled temperatures that lighter pies with custards, creams, and more delicate fruit became common.