OK. My disaster this past baking year: I was providing my very impressive "Famous Brownie Layer Cake with Coffee Chantilly Cream Icing" to take to a friend's house for a large Thanksgiving Day dinner gathering. I made the homemade brownie layers Thanksgiving eve to allow them to cool sufficiently before icing with the chantilly cream. This would permit the frosted cake to set in the fridge overnight to make cutting slices easier the next day. Mind you, I'm not a novice baker and have made this cake for special occasions many times over the years. I greased the pans in preparation for the batter and for a fleeting second I thought "I should use my parchment rounds in the pans since I have them." NAH. I've never used parchment paper when I've made this recipe and NEVER had a problem... Ho, ho, ho... Well, when the layers were done, I took them out of the oven to cool a bit before turning them out on a rack to cool completely. The first layer would not release from the properly greased pan no matter what I did. I ended up having to dig it out and it came out in brownie chunks of various sizes. The second layer, turned out only the center leaving a perfect ring of brownie around the outside of the pan. What the heck??? Uh, oh. Now what do I do with this mess? The internet to the rescue! I ended up breaking the rest of the brownies into chunks and making a brownie trifle with coffee chantilly cream layers and fresh raspberries. Not what I planned, but everyone loved it. The moral of the story is pay attention to your inner voice and definitely use parchment paper next time!

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