Pies, Again, from the United States With the Most Delish Dessert Recipes

Why does the US have so many pies that legit half of the world’s pies are associated with just one country? You might remember before colonization and mass migration, the US just had the Indigenous Indian tribes. That changed with white folks bringing their own piece of culture from their home country and carving a new life with a piece of the old chalkboard all the while using new chalk pieces to write the same alphabets. A true melting pot of cultures, the US thus has many pies, which have some delish dessert recipes, some with a piece of history and the others fairly modern inventions.  

1. Fudge Pie 

Fudge pie originates from landlocked Tennessee and is made with chocolate, butter, salt, sugar, cocoa powder, eggs, vanilla extract, and evaporated milk. This concoction gets poured into a pie crust and baked until the crust is golden brown. After the pie cools down sufficiently, it is sliced and served with a topping of whipped cream and sometimes nuts like chopped walnuts and pecans. This pie is popular throughout the Southern US and the first fudge pie is said to have appeared in the early 1900s; not long after, it became a staple at family gatherings and church events. 

2. Shoofly Pie 

This gooey, sticky and dark pie is from the southeastern state of Pennsylvania and features a filling made from molasses, brown sugar, and butter with a crunchy, crumbly topping. One theory claims it derived its name from having to shoo flies away from the pie, which would be cooling, which were attracted because of the filling. Another says its name corroborates to the once-popular "Shoofly Molasses" product when these pies first appeared in the 1800s. Sticky pies might remind you of a particular English pie – the British treacle tart. Because it is to some extent similar to this one that has been made since medieval times. In Pennsylvania Dutch country, the settlers mostly comprised the Mennonites, Moravians, and Amish, and for them, this was a winter staple when fruit was scarce and eggs too valuable to put in desserts.  

3. (Not) Derby Pie 

This pie consists of the typical pastry shell with a nutty chocolate filling. Its origin dates back to the 1950s, when George Kern with the help of his parents, Walter and Leaudra, made this cake at the Melrose Inn in Prospect, Kentucky, whose recipe is still safeguarded by the family and is a trademark pie of their establishment. The name is such because it is associated with the Kentucky Derby. The family is infamous for slapping several lawsuits, at least 25 on many people who tried to replicate their pie.  

4. Bob Andy Pie 

Bob Andy Pie has Amish roots and comes from the country's Midwest, which has a pie crust with a filling made with flour, eggs, milk, sugar, and cinnamon, which is then poured into the crust and baked until its middle sets. When sliced the pie tends to have a layered look because as it bakes, some cinnamon tends to sink to the bottom. As for the name, who the heck is Bob Andy? The names belong to an Amish farmer's horses who worked in his field. He was heard saying that the pie was "as good as Bob and Andy" after having a bite of it. 

5. Marlborough Pie 

Originating from the namesake Marlborough, whether in the US Massachusetts or in England, we don't quite know. But the origin of this pie does date back to early English settlers in the US. This pie has a  buttery crust that has a filling made with apples, butter, sugar, salt, eggs, cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and sherry and baked until the custard sets. It's believed the pie was originally called Marlborough pudding in England and by the late 1800s in the United States, it became a Thanksgiving staple in New England colonies. 

6. Huckleberry Pie 

There's no link to the  Mark Twain novel that has Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn, with this pie, but it does use the namesake berries in its filling whose tart and sweet taste goes well with its buttery double crust pie. The top crust acts like a lid that sandwiches the sweet-tart huckleberry filling, usually flavored with lemon, a little cinnamon and nutmeg; the lid could either be cut into strips to make a lattice pattern or just be a layer of stretched dough. Huckleberries grow wild and only grow in summer and the wafting aroma of this pie fills the air of the states in the Pacific Northwest, where wild huckleberries grow untamed.   

7. Chiffon Pie 

Taking inspiration from the airy and wispy meringue, chiffon pie used to have a light, mousse-like filling made with egg whites that used to go over a crisp graham cracker crust. It was invented by a baker called Monroe Boston Strause in 1926, in Los Angeles. It didn't take long for the popularity of this pie to skyrocket and within a couple of years of his invention, Strause had the biggest pie business in the country and earned the moniker, Pie King.