It was one of those days. You know what I mean: a million things to do, and none of them going smoothly. If I was going to survive, I needed a brownie.
As all celiacs know, we can’t just duck into a most stores, grab a moist, tasty, chocolatey brownie, and move on. Unless you’re lucky enough to live next to a gluten-free bakery, that’s only a dream.
Fortunately, I have many quick and easy brownie recipes available (get one for free here). So into the kitchen I dashed, and in just a few minutes I was sliding them into the oven. On impulse, I used a cupcake pan instead of a brownie pan. And I am so glad that I did!
Cook and clean…
I tend to clean as I go when cooking and baking. After I use an ingredient, I like to put it away. My kitchen is small, so it really only takes me a half-step to do that. I re-use measuring cups to reduce the washing work too (this was a revelation to my nephew when he last cooked in my kitchen). When the food goes into the oven, I’m already partially done with my clean-up. This time was no exception: as I combined sugar, gluten-free flours, cocoa powder, and the rest, I tucked them back into the pantry again. A final stir of the batter, then I spooned it into the pan, then slid my emergency brownie cupcakes into the oven. All was right with my world.
Oops, what’s that?
There I was, gluten-free brownies in the oven, bowl licked (oh yum), and ready to wash up. Looking in the sink I saw….a measuring cup filled with sweet rice flour! Oops! Smacking myself on the head didn’t help – I just forgot to add it.
It was too late to fix anything, so I left the pan in the oven and hoped for the best. The little bit of batter leftover that I had poured into bar molds went into my mouth instead. And I watched and waited. Actually, I couldn’t bear to watch. I just waited to see if this would be one of my rare gluten-free fails.
Brownie cups?
When baking was done, braced myself and opened the oven. Looking back at me was a tray of collapsed brownie cups. They had a sort of crisp-chewy texture from the higher sugar-to-flour ratio, but still a good taste. Not a complete disaster at all!
If I had been planning to use them for dessert, I would have trimmed the edges, filled them with ice cream or whipped cream and berries, and served them as if that had been the plan all along. No one would have known that they were gluten free, or that it wasn’t the exact gluten-free dessert I had planned to serve. But since they were just for me, and they still tasted good…well, I still consider them a success. They gave me a much-needed jolt of chocolate and helped to turn my day around.
It just goes to show you, what you think might be a baking fail can be an unexpected success!
Even the best bakers make mistakes. If you’re not an expert gluten-free baker, it helps to have easy recipes that you can trust. Follow the recipes in Easy, Tasty, Gluten Free and you can’t fail. They’re tested, tasted, and requested by celiacs and non-celiacs alike. Find out more here