You Want Pie With That - II

I call this "I'm the biggest dork ever pie". Or, "1776: Compromise Pie".

I feel the need to give history lesson to introduce this pie. A long time ago (summer of 1776), in a place far, far away (Philadelphia, PA), a group of rebellious men (our Founding Fathers) gathered. The complained a lot and some disagreed on almost everything, but in the end, they all had the good of their chosen land at heart, and they reached a compromise. They agreed on several things.

First, that the windows of their meeting place should remain closed. This was an issue because it was an extra hot summer (and there was no A/C in those days), there was a plague of flies about, and their business was not the sort of thing that you wanted eavesdroppers to hear (in fact, there were no written records of their floor debates because, as their fearless leader so aptly put, "We must hang together, or we must asuredly all hang seperately", because, as their vocal South Carolinian noted, their plot was nothing short of treason). So... they abided the heat, and kept the windows closed.

Second, that the triangle trade shipping routes united them all, in spite of their varied geography (13 different colonies!). Important parts of that triangle trade were molasses and rum (I'd say they are still very important parts of our foreign trade, at least in my house).

Third (and perhaps most importantly - at least for a couple of members), that the stores of rum should remain open to all of their members!

Oh yeah, and they wrote and passed the Declaration of Independence.

Fast forward about 200 years. First, Peter Stone wrote a book about these events. Then, Sherman Edwards turned that book into a Broadway musical (in 1969). THEN, this musical was adapted for film (in 1972). Basically, it was the best film ever to hit screens (that statement may be what makes me a dork).

So... this great film obviously deserved a pie! The pie is something in between a shoofly pie and an apple pie, topped with a rum glaze. Shoofly because they really did endure awful flies, and apple because... well, what could be more American!? The rum for several reasons - There is a song with Rum in the title (that's a big one), that discusses the importance of rum in the triangle trade (the slave trade), AND Ben Franklin and Stephen Hopkins adore rum (and the other Adams uses this as a bit of a reward/celebration for Hopkins at one point) (and I suspect that rum is the culprit in the drunken militiamen that are mentioned later in the movie). Finally (I swear), the molasses is another reference to the triangle trade. To top off the pie, I gave it a rim of 13 stars - one for each colony (even NY, in spite of their courteous abstentions).

The Recipe:

1 c flour
3/4 c brown sugar
1 tbs solid shortening
1 c corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup boiling water
1 beaten egg
3 baking apples, peeled, cored, and chopped, then coated in 1 tbs cinnamon
2 crusts (uncooked)

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix flour, brown sugar and shortening into crumbs.
Split the crumb mixture in half.
Set the one half aside for crumbs.
Pour the corn syrup in the other half of the crumb mixture.
Mix the baking soda in the boiling water.
When this fizzes, pour on top of the corn syrup/crumb mixture.
Add egg an mix with fork.
Pour in unbaked pie shell.
Cut stars from 2d crust.
Top pie with crumbs and then with stars around the edge.
Bake 10 minutes.
Turn oven down to 350 and bake an additional 30-40 minutes.

Rum Sauce

1 c sugar
3/4 c water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs cornstarch
1/4 c cold water
1/4 c rum

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, and cinnamon.
Bring to boil over medium-high heat.
Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat.
In small bowl, blend cornstarch and cold water.
Gradually stir into hot sugar mixture.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens.
Stir in rum; cook 1 minute.
Pour over slices of pie and serve warm.