When you take the first bite of a Fordies brownie, multiple questions enter your mind; How is the texture so smooth, but crumbly at the same time?, I don't usually like brownies that much, but jeez how are these so good?, I wonder how they make these little squares of heaven? 

Well, the best person to answer this question is the mastermind behind all of this, Alex Ford. Here's how Fordies came to be in Alex's own words...

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When did you start baking?
I started baking at the age of 4 with my Nan, we used to make the Betty Crocker or Cadbury’s cake mixes but I think I used to end up eating more of the raw mixture than what went into the cake tin!
 

At what age did you bake your first brownie?
Again with my Nan. I must have been about 6 or 7 and we used one of her mums old recipe books. They came out much different to the brownies I make now (more like mini cakes) but were still really good!
 

When did you start developing your own brownie recipe?
I started at college when our cookery projects involved us developing recipes and testing them. One of my projects was brownies and I came up with a recipe mix that seemed to be extremely popular. Ever since then I have still been adapting the recipe to constantly improve, create new flavours and also make my brownies available to customers with special dietary requirements meaning that everyone can still enjoy a little of what they love! 


At what point did you realise you had a recipe you wanted to share with everyone?
I opened a cafe when I was 22 years old and decided to sell my brownies there. I started getting more and more orders for my brownies and it even got to the point where I'd bake 4-5 batches in the morning and by 11am they had all disappeared. Some customers then started pre-ordering their brownie the day before!


What’s your favourite brownie flavour?
I think for me I would have to say the orange. I have always loved Terrys Chocolate Orange and the brownies taste really similar! A close second would be the coconut though.

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