Has anyone made it? Any special tricks I should know to make it come out right?
I had to look this up - have never heard of it. Is your version like a cake in a pie? And then a gooey nut topping on top?
Igloo, what is it? Do you have a recipe?
Lol, colonial inkeepers probably had lots of versions of pies.
@abasket Yes, that’s it. Done right it is very very good. For some reason, the “cake” isn’t rising when I try to make it. The cake filling has to rise so that the gooey chocolate topping sips under the cake forming a thin layer of chocolate at the Bottom.
Well, I have no tips but I’d sure like a piece! 
@abasket You sound quite experienced in baking. Any idea why my cake didn’t rise? The chocolate topping has to travel to the bottom while the cake filling is rising. My didn’t didn’t rise and the topping stayed on the top. It was a complete disaster.
I don’t know if I’m a good troubleshooter but my first thoughts were:
- what kind/thickness of pie plate are you using? Glass, metal, what???
- how thick is your pie crust - is it homemade or a store bought crust?
I’d play around with your oven temp. Try raising or lowering it 25 degrees.
Issues with the leavening agent or the mix of ingredients? So many possibilities… could be something as simple as your baking powder (if that’s what you used for the leavening agent) isn’t fresh.
Would you post the recipe? That might help with people troubleshooting.
Agree with @milee30 that if it calls for baking powder or soda, perhaps it isn’t fresh.
I used a new baking powder with expiration date Dec 2020. I could have used only 1/2 t of the baking powder instead of 1 t. That would make a difference. My “cake” was rather solid.
Recipe roughly,
For the sauce - melt baking chocolate with water add butter, sugar, vanilla extract. Set aside
For the cake batter, mix flour, baking powder, sugar. Add egg, milk , shortening mix again
Pour the batter over a unbaked pie crust. Gently pour the sauce on top of the cake batter. Sprinkle with chopped nuts and bake.
Yes, if you didn’t measure ingredients, that could definitely impact the final product. Baking is science. If you used only half the called for leavening, you’re not going to get the desired result.
Also, make sure you are mixing it correctly. Here’s a recipe for it I found online. I also saw the same/similar on Hershey’s website.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/12389/colonial-innkeepers-pie/
Notice it has you beat the batter for 2 minutes twice, for a total of 4 minutes. That incorporates air which will also help the batter rise (and the chocolate mixture sink). If you shortchanged that process, it could result in a leaden result.
Oven temp or leavening. Or if you. Mixed properly/long enough to get air in the batter.
This is a baking 101 issue and you might want to Google the problem itself. Eg, cake not rising.
Another possibility is overmixing once you add the milk and shortening. You want them to combine, but not allow the liquid (milk) to activate the gluten. If you think overmixing might be the culprit, you could help prevent that by separating out the steps a bit so it’s still combined but the liquid doesn’t touch the flour until the last moment and then only for a few stirs. Suggestion:
- Combine flour, baking powder, sugar
- Cut shortening into flour mix until shortening balls are smaller than peas
- In separate bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Add this milk+egg mix to the flour mix, stirring just until combined.