Bon Vivant in brownie heaven!

Lucky old me… I only got to taste and sample a selection of Odonnell Bakehouse brownies! What a truly decadent way to spend a Saturday morning. To ensure I could totally immerse myself in #brownieheaven I dropped the ‘toddzilla’ off with a family member and hot-footed it back to Bradford-on-Avon to the tiny, tucked away premises of Odonnell Bakehouse ‘Goose Boots’ in Weavers Walk.

Upon entering this bijoux shop my eyes were immediately drawn to the delectable looking brownies all lined up beneath glass cloches screaming ‘eat me’. Equally as welcoming - owner/baker Michelle greeted me and showed me into her shop which is clearly her pride & joy - and you can see why. The shop is a beautiful space with industrial corrugated sheeting covering the walls, a bespoke aluminium counter and the day’s selection of brownies drawn up on a quirky framed sliding door/chalkboard.

Husband & wife team Michelle & Darryl, of Southern Ireland & South Wales heritage respectively, opened the shop in March this year. Both sharing a love of cooking & baking they came up with the Irish Stout brownie which started it all for them in 2013. They received such a good response they decided to produce a range of brownies to sell at food festivals alongside holding down their day jobs! Eventually they decided they wanted a base and fell in love with Bradford-on-Avon with it’s foodie vibe & close-knit community opening their shop ‘Goose Boots’ where you can buy their brownies by the box load!

So let me tell you about these brownies! Michelle & Darryl sell four main brownies in the shop; traditional, caramel & sea salt, gooey orange & Irish stout plus a monthly special where they play around with ideas & flavours, trialling new ideas. Last months’ special was the ‘love me, love me not…’ brownie which was a Marmite & cream cheese recipe…! As a Marmite hater I’m not really down with that but they assured me it was a hit and Marmite lovers thought it was genius so they are thinking of keeping it on as a fifth brownie. This months special is ‘anyone for tennis?’ - a strawberries & cream brownie perfect for the summer using only the best quality sourced strawberries from Cheddar. Michelle & Darryl are committed to the quality of their brownies and won’t put out anything that isn’t to their exacting high standards.

It’s not everyday you are fed brownie after brownie but I managed to maintain my composure and not shove them all in my mouth at once. I started with the traditional brownie which was deliciously rich but surprisingly light with a soft, fudgy texture beneath crisp crust - pure, unadulterated chocolatey goo.
Next up was the Irish stout with a luxurious topping (a personal favourite of mine and I don’t even like Guinness!). You could really taste the stout and the cream cheese frosting offered a welcome tangy sweetness. The brownie was super moist & fudgy with an almost velvety texture. I was in heaven!
The third brownie to be demolished was their best seller - caramel & sea salt. Rich, buttery with an intense caramel sweetness drizzled over the top cut through with sea saltiness. Pretty indulgent. If you are still unconvinced by the idea of sweet & savoury you need to try these.
Lastly but by no means least was the gooey orange. A slightly more crumbly, cakey exterior but still with a rich & fudgy centre and a big hit of orange that just elevates the brownie flavour and balances out the sweetness.

For self-taught bakers these guys know what they’re doing and they’re doing it well! They also cater for the wedding crowd offering heart shaped brownie cakes and brownie towers instead of the more traditional wedding cake. This is an area of the business they are developing so keep an eye out for their soon to be published wedding brochure.
Before leaving I purchased a box of the Irish stout and caramel & sea salt brownies to take back to the probably-frazzled-family-member! These should surely soften the blow!
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