Walk into most bakeries today and you’ll see the usual suspects sitting in the display case. Apple pie, pecan pie, maybe a pumpkin or two if the season’s right. These classics have their place, sure, but what happened to all those quirky pies your grandmother used to make? Bakeries and restaurants of today may tempt customers with only a handful of offerings, history is chockfull of flavors that have either become regional novelties or have been forgotten entirely. Let’s be real, there’s something both charming and strange about the old pies that once graced American tables but have since disappeared from our collective memory. These weren’t just desserts. They were clever solutions born from scarcity, creativity, and making do with whatever was on hand. So let’s dive in.
Shoofly Pie
Shoofly pie can still be found at Amish markets throughout Pennsylvania Dutch country, but you may struggle to find it elsewhere. This molasses-based marvel is one of those polarizing desserts that people either adore or find completely bewildering. The first theory is that shoofly pie’s signature molasses filling was especially attractive to flies, which often flocked to the pie as it was left to cool, hence the need to shoo the flies away.
Dutch Haven heavily promoted its shoofly pies to tourists. While business wasn’t as brisk during its last full year of operation, the bakery faced closure challenges in 2023. The pie’s decline in mainstream bakeries speaks volumes about changing tastes. It’s sticky, intensely sweet, and requires an appreciation for molasses that many younger consumers simply don’t have.
Vinegar Pie
Here’s where things get truly inventive. Vinegar pie was allegedly a go-to bake during the Great Depression when fresh ingredients like lemons were scarce, so in an attempt to recreate the citrusy tang, bakers reached for white vinegar. Honestly, it sounds like desperation baking at its finest, yet people swear the results are surprisingly pleasant.
The filling combines vinegar with sugar, butter, and eggs to create something resembling a lemon custard pie without the actual lemons. The COVID-19 pandemic may have offered Americans a taste of scarcity with supply chain disruptions, but those inconveniences were paltry in comparison to the woes experienced during the Great Depression, given the extent and sweeping nature of economic hardship, belt-tightening inherently had homemakers turning to creative solutions to satisfy their families, that included expanding the versatility of vinegar to make the acid into a dessert. These days, vinegar pie is more of a culinary curiosity than something you’d find in your local bakery.
Marlborough Pie
Marlborough pie dates back to 17th century England, and highlights ingredients that abundant at the time such as apples, spices, cream, and butter, the pie was brought over by early English settlers, and it later became incredibly popular in New England, particularly after it was featured in Amelia Simmons’ 1796 cookbook, “American Cookery”. Think of it as apple pie’s sophisticated ancestor.
This custard-based apple pie was a winter staple for generations. Marlborough pie remained a winter staple until the late 19th century, but alternatives like pumpkin pie and pecan pie have taken its place on holiday tables. The recipe calls for grated apples mixed with lemon juice, sherry, warming spices, and a creamy custard base. It’s hard to say for sure, but it seems like simpler apple pies won the popularity contest over time, leaving this elegant creation behind.
Mock Apple Pie
This one is wild. Mock apple pie fools you into thinking it is apple pie, essentially, mock apple pie fools you into thinking it is apple pie, the apples typically found in traditional apple pie are replaced here with either crackers or breadcrumbs. Seriously, it’s made with Ritz crackers instead of actual apples.
Many say that the original recipe for this pie were popularized by the Ritz Crackers brand, which first appeared in 1934; while Ritz Crackers may have popularized the mock apple pie, though, records of mock apple pie that incorporated soda crackers or stale bread show that bakers were using this method in the 1800s. The brain apparently fills in the missing apple flavor based on smell and visual cues alone. It’s psychological warfare disguised as dessert. With apples now available year-round at every grocery store, mock apple pie has become a relic of harder times.
Grasshopper Pie
While the pairing of chocolate and mint live on in countless candies, cookies, and ice creams, the cocktail-based grasshopper pie became a dessert of days past, rather than merely taking inspiration from the profile of the drink traditionally credited to New Orleans bar Tujague’s owner Philip Guichet in the lead up to prohibition, this popular sweet throughout the ’50s and ’60s actually uses the same liqueurs. This retro treat combines crème de menthe and crème de cacao in a no-bake filling.
It’s believed that grasshopper pie was actually invented by the wife of the person who created the grasshopper cocktail, the original recipe for the pie appeared in the ’60s and it was a massive hit throughout the decade, it managed to stay prevalent even in the ’70s, after which it faded out of the limelight. The pie’s downfall might be its boozy nature or simply that mint-chocolate desserts evolved into easier formats like ice cream and brownies. Either way, this midcentury marvel is now more of a vintage curiosity than a bakery staple.
