RIVER MUD PIES can add another dimension to your river teaching. Chocolate is the ingredient that forms the basis for all the recipes given here. That wonderful smell of dessert invites the taster to compare with the smell of mud they found while tramping through in the wetlands that border any streams or rivers. Knowing that you are going to provide the treat, have the students make observe the smells while you are tromping through the mud. Look at the texture too.

When back in the classroom, bring out the RIVER MUD PIE for a bit of comparison. You will have lots of fun with this activity and the kids will appreciate the gesture.

RIVER MUD PIES is the title of this activity but for the students you change the name to the river where you are testing just as I have named mine after the Illinois or the Mississippi. Some of the recipes can be named for creeks, such as the Macoupin Creek Mud Pie.

Send me your recipe and I will add it to the set Most mud pies are not the prettiest but their cracked and broken appearance does remind us of the parched banks or the dry river bank. Or we might be reminded of a big multi-colored mud pie.

MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE
1 unbaked 10-inch pie shell
Filling:
½ cup unsalted butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
3 eggs
1 tbsp. instant coffee dissolved in 2-tbsp. sour cream
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Keep pastry-lined pie dish chilled until time to bake.
Measure the butter and chocolate into the top of a double boiler and melt over hot (not boiling) water. Remove from the heat and cool.
With an electric mixer or processor, beat together all remaining ingredients until well blended. Stir in the melted chocolate-butter mixture. Pour into prepared pie shell.
Bake in the lower third of a 350-degree oven for 35-45 minutes or until the filling puffs up and forms a crisp, deeply crackled crust and the pastry edges look golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
The filling will sink down as it cools and the inner layer will set but remain softly chewy. Serve at room temperature, topped with vanilla ice cream, yogurt or whipped cream. (From As Easy As Pie by Susan Purdy)


ILLINOIS MUD ICE CREAM PIE
1 quart coffee ice cream
1 nut shell crust, recipe follows
1-cup chocolate sauce, recipe follows
½ pint heavy cream
¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 tbsp. dark crème de cacao (optional)
¼ cup chopped pecans
Shaved semisweet chocolate for garnish
Slightly soften the coffee ice cream. Pile it into the cooled crust and smooth the top. Cover with foil and place in the freezer until ice cream is firm. Remove from the freezer and top with the chocolate sauce. Smooth out and return to freezer for 8 hours.
To serve, whip the cream, adding confectioners’ sugar a little at a time. Add crème de cacao if desired. Smooth over pie. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and shaved chocolate over the whipped cream.
If the sauce drips a little, don’t worry. That’s why it’s called mud pie. It’s the color of mud and wonderfully messy to eat. (From Great Desserts of the South)

CHOCOLATE SAUCE
4 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup strong coffee
1 cup sugar
Melt chocolate and coffee in a saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Stir in sugar and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Cool and refrigerate. Makes 1 ½ cups.

KASKASKIA MUD CAKE WITH SLOUGH ICING
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1/8 tsp. salt
½ cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecans, chopped
Slough icing
½ cup butter, softened
1 box (16 oz) confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow crème
Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar. Add one egg at a time, mixing well after each. Stir together flour, salt and cocoa and blend in gradually. Add vanilla and pecans. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
For icing, cream butter, sugar and cocoa. Add milk and vanilla. Leave cake in the pan. Smooth marshmallow crème over hot cake. Immediately spread on icing. Cool. Cut into 3-by-3-inch squares for dessert or 1 ½-by-1 ½-inch squares for party pickup. Makes 15 large squares and 30 small ones. (From Great Desserts of the South by Mary Leigh Furrh and Jo Barksdale).


MISSOURI RIVER MUD CAKE
4 eggs
3 cups brownie mix, recipe follows
½ cup margarine, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups chopped nuts
1 cup flaked coconut
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow crème
Chocolate icing:
1 lb. Powder sugar
½ cup margarine
6 tbsp. Evaporated milk
4 tbsp. Cocoa
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and lightly flour a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add melted margarine and mix well. Add Brownie Mix and blend well. Stir in vanilla, stir in nuts and coconut. Pour into prepared pan. Bake about 30 minutes, until edges separate from pan. While still hot, carefully spread on marshmallow crème. Frost with chocolate icing.
To make icing: Put powdered sugar in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan (1 quart), combine margarine, evaporated milk and cocoa. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Immediately add to powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour over cake. (From Temptations, published by Presbyterian Day School in Cleveland, Miss.)