We’ve finally been able to book my best friend from university, Kim and my ‘birthday pedicures’! I say, finally, because our birthdays were in July (she is 11 days older than I — and yes, I take it where I can get it!) and we have both been so busy, we haven’t had a chance to plan something! She and hubby Mike are coming over Saturday morning, we’ll have a coffee first so they can see our new landscaping and then Kim and I will walk up to the village for our pedi’s. The guys will probably walk over to High Park (High Park is about 400 acres and is about a 15 minute walk from our house). It’s a little like Central Park in NYC; it has some wildlife, lots of vegetation and a couple of ponds. It’s a beautiful piece of nature in the middle of the city! About an hour later, we’ll meet for lunch in the village; we haven’t decided whether it’s Italian at Villa or Japanese yet. Villa serves gluten free pizza crusts and breads!
I wanted to make us a little treat to enjoy after lunch but Kim is gluten intolerant so my options are somewhat limited; I follow Elana’s Pantry from Colorado, she has Celiac disease and therefore has dedicated her entire blog to Gluten Free. She has a lot of very tasty and unexpected treats. Like Elana, I refuse to make two dishes when Kim and Mike come over, so whatever we have that is gluten free needs to be tasty enough that we will ALL enjoy it! I came across this recipe quite some time ago and decided immediately that I want to make them: Espresso Fudge Brownies. Elana developed the recipe, and due to my inexperience with Gluten Free ingredients, I shall not alter it one bit. Please click here for the link to her blog.
OK, first things first. Meet Iona, she is my Mom’s mixer. My Mom’s mixer is likely older than I, and older than most of you, respected readers! I remember making all sorts of things with this mixer; the motor whining as it was stressed with the dough of cookies, breads or cakes! I’m actually quite surprised she still works — but they did make things to last, in those days! I am glad, though — she brings back a lot of great memories. Shout out to our neighbour Iona, I bet you never thought a mixer was named after you! 😉
The recipe was very easy to follow, and I had all the ingredients on hand (mind you, I did not need to be vegan, so I used standard non-vegan ingredients). Basically it was one bowl and a few utensils. I prepared the tin as suggested, easily poured the batter into the pan and put it in the oven for the 25-30 minutes. At 5 minutes I tested the centre with a cake tester and it came out clean. Done. Great. I let it sit for one hour before I tried to turn it out. See I FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS. I turned it out and , WHAM, the inner circle did not release and remained firmly positioned in the centre of the pan. UGH. I tried putting it back together but it looked like a dogs breakfast. What to do, what to do?
Below is the pan of brownies before the inner circle betrayed me. This is when I decided that Trifle was the only respectable thing to do! The deep rich chocolatey brownies, a hint of espresso, some strawberry preserves, a little freshly whipped cream. Yes, I think this could work.
This is the Trifle I threw together as a bit of a tester. We had tasters last night and they were deemed very yummy. Yes, even I tried some. Tomorrow I’ll have to run twice as long on the tread mill! Damn you, damn brownies!
Not meaning to switch the theme, but I am being asked at least a million times is a sport watch perceived as jewelry or a piece of sports equipment?
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Hi Gary, know your audience: dinner party talking with a well dressed woman, it’s jewelry! At the game with the boys, it’s sports equipment, for sure! 😉
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I hope you have a relaxing birthday pedicure! My husband and his buddy are 32 days apart and my hubby never lets his friend forget who is older! It was very nice of you to make something for your friend with her food restrictions in mind….what a lovely friend you are!
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Thanks for your kind words, Ann. I am really looking forward to our visit.
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To me, this is an even better result!! Your trifle looks sooo good… Enjoy your birthday pedicure ladies. Isn’t Elana’s Pantry great?
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Yes, Kelly, she is a really accomplished cook and marketer!
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I love the mixer! I can imagine it comes with some pretty great memories. 🙂 I’m not a chocolate eater, but these trifles are adorable! Enjoy your pedi, I’m overdue for one of those myself!
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Thanks Kristy. I can hardly wait for Saturday, sitting on those crazy massage pedi-chairs and just girl talking!
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They both still look great and I’ve just had my own kitchen disaster so can commiserate 🙂
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Thanks BFN, hope your disaster fared as well as mine. PS I’m not tellin’ anyone;-) The trifle was meant to be!
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Oh, dear! I bet there isn’t a baker alive who hasn’t shared the experience of some baked item not releasing from its pan. My last was a bundt cake. Your solution of creating a parfait, though, is a good one and I’ll be sure to use it next time. Oh! Thanks for sharing the gluten-free recipe.
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Thanks John. That hasn’t happened in a long time. Another great solution would have been cake pops, but my friend is not a huge sugar eater, and cake pops are generally mixed with an icing to make them into pop balls!
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We did that with brownies that didn’t work out. Feel free to name appliances after me, although Greg doesn’t have the same ring as Iona!
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Thanks Greg. Hope you soaked it in some luscious booze! Hmmm, naming an appliance after you…let’s see how that would pan out?
“Hey, do me a favor and throw these dirty dishes in the Greg over there.”
Or “just use the Greg to chop them up”
I’m thinking not!
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Ooooh, forget the brownies – what a wonderful way to “save the day”. Perfect use for a “fail” cake, and best of all… no-one would ever know if you didn’t tell them. Beautiful – I haven’t had trifle in ages. Did you soak the brownies in alcohol? I know it’s not so traditional but personally I prefer my trifles alcohol free!
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Thanks Charles. My Mom’s best friend was English and she taught my Mom to make trifle, and my Mom taught me. Over the years there have been various renditions, some with preserves, some with fresh fruit. And yes, I normally would soak the cake in something light, like Sherry, but my friend and her hubby do not drink, so I shall abstain this time. I may try soaking in orange juice as my critic JT mentioned that he loved it but wasn’t over the top with the harder bits. 😉
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