Brownie Empire

Mike was an aspiring chef, or at least in his mind he was. His passion was baking, so in reality, he was more of an inspiring baker, but he was too naïve to know the difference. Even in his naiveté, he was an excellent baker; he always seemed to have just the right touch with no matter what he made. Everything that came out of his oven was the essence of perfection, or at least in his mind it was.

Armed with his grandmother’s old recipe cards, he honed his craft by donating his delicacies to bake sales, taking desserts to potlucks and just eating a lot of them himself; for quality control, of course. Over time, he noticed the demand for his German’s chocolate brownies outweighed requests for any other item he made. And why wouldn’t it be? These brownies were rich, dense, chocolaty, sweet and chewy, with just the right amount of crunch around the edges. Not to mention the icing. Oh, the icing. Made with semi-sweet chocolate to cut the sweetness of the German’s chocolate, the icing was gooey, fudgy, and oh so delightful.

Those brownies were the first things gone at every bake sale, every potluck, and Mike could sit down and eat a whole pan while they were still warm, with or without icing (a daunting feat that is not recommended). With the undeniable success of these brownies, Mike had an idea,

“I should be making money off of these things!”

He became a man on a mission. Having no experience working in a bakery, he figured he should start small. Work the farmer’s market scene, maybe upgrade to a food truck from there, and then finally have his own store front. Mike was dreaming big, and he was letting his imagination run wild with possibilities.

“I could build an empire with these brownies!” he thought.

Then, Mike took the hardest step of all; the first one. He contacted the local farmer’s market and reserved booth space. He was in. He bought a pop-up canopy, a 6-foot table and spent the whole day Friday furiously baking his German’s chocolate brownies. He meticulously packaged each brownie, and arrived bright and early Saturday morning to set up his table.

It was a beautiful morning. The birds were singing, a gentle breeze filled the air, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The market was bustling with shoppers, and Mike stood confidently at his table, ready to sell every last brownie he so lovingly made. Person after person walked by, but Mike had no takers. Every once in a while, children pointed at Mike’s booth begging for chocolate as their mothers dragged them away by the arm.

Mike had an idea.  Since most of these people had never even tried his brownies, he set out some bite sized samples and waited for the crowd to flock in. He got many takers for his samples, and he finally managed to sell one to a kid who outlasted his parents with uncanny persistence.   However, most people just took the sample, smiled, nodded, and walked away. Mike was dejected. The farmer’s market was almost over. He set out a few more samples and then slumped into his chair.

A local baker passed by Mike’s tent and swiped a sample.  She was curious about the new kid on the block. Upon tasting it, her eyes lit up a bit. She knew these brownies were something special, she knew they were almost perfect. She walked over to a nearby booth that sold gourmet salts and purchased a small bag of fleur de sel. She walked back over to Mike’s booth, picked up another brownie sample, and dusted it ever so gently with the fleur de sel. Then she got Mike’s attention, held the brownie out to him and said,

“Take it…with a grain of salt.”

Mike just looked at her. He reluctantly took the sample of his own brownie and took a bite. His eyes opened wide in disbelief and he stood straight up. The brownies had a much fuller chocolate flavor that danced and sparkled on his taste buds. The chocolate taste just popped so wonderfully, and he couldn’t believe it. All this extra burst of flavor from a simple grain of salt.  This was a definitive “aha!” moment for Mike, and he couldn't believe the difference it made in his brownies. He just looked at the baker and smiled. Then she said to him,

“Now that’s a good brownie. It’ll be nice to have a little competition around here. Good luck.”

Then she walked away. Mike’s confidence was restored and he furiously unpackaged, salted, and repacked his brownies. He sold a few more brownies before the market closed, and his samples began receiving rave reviews from the shoppers. Mike ended up giving most of his product away that day, but he had new hope. His brownie empire was still on the horizon, all because of one friendly baker and the bite taken with a grain of salt.