Earning Brownie Points

Tired of what had become the brownie norm, Tony Edwards decided to cook up a business

Tony Edwards believes if you're going to do something, you better do it right. That's why he says his brownies are the best you can get.

"Do you like centers, middle or corners?" he asks.

Corners?

"The chewy part."

That's right - it's a brownie store where you not only pick the brownie, you pick the best part.

After being fed up with not being able to buy a decent brownie anywhere, Edwards took the batter into his own hands.

He started selling his brownies over the Internet two years ago, borrowing commercial baking space for the three months before Christmas to make enough brownies for the holiday rush.

"It started getting really popular," Edwards said. "People that got them would send them to other people and it started webbing out really fast. Then it just started getting crazy. So I was working my regular job, and I was doing this."

Edwards decided to quit his job with an insurance company and partnered with his wife to make brownies about a year and a half ago.

"I had a really good job that paid extremely well," Edwards said. "Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. Life is too short not to have fun, and I really enjoy doing this."

Once the holiday season rolled around, things really got cooking for Edwards.

"I was in here for three straight days, with both ovens going, 24 hours a day, with no sleep," he said.

With the Internet business going so well, he didn't have time to open to the public.

"We managed to get through last Christmas, and we decided we really have to go into this full speed. In July, I opened the doors to the public and just decided to go into it full steam," he said.

Edwards has five different varieties of brownies: caramel, English toffee crunch, original, original with walnuts, and German chocolate.

"We kept up with that original one, then we modified it and made a toffee brownie and we also made a caramel brownie," Edwards said. "A lot of places, when they do a toffee brownie, they'll just put toffee on the top, and there you go - it's a toffee brownie. We added the toffee into the recipe, and we put it on top. The same with the caramel, we put it in the brownie itself and on top of the brownie, so that it gets lots of layers of flavor."

Only the best ingredients are used in Edward's brownies, he says, and there are no preservatives.

"We don't add any junk into the brownies that don't belong," he said.

So what's everyone's favorite?

"That's hard to say," Edwards said. "Probably the original with walnuts right now, but the caramel is quickly becoming a big seller."

Jonathan McLain, who works at the brownie store after he gets out of school at Winter Springs High School, says that he sees more of an evening crowd coming in.

"My favorite is the Amazing Brownie hot fudge sundae. It's my specialty so far," McLain said. "I have gotten a lot of tips from that."

Though McLain enjoys serving the brownies, he doesn't get to make them.

"He's the brownie man, I'm just the brownie boy," McLain said.

Edwards ran a yogurt and bakery shop in St. Pete about 15 years ago. Even then, people loved his brownies, he said. Edwards promised that if it was not the best brownie you ever had, he would give you your money back. He never had any customer, out of about 10,000, take him up on that offer, he said.

"I've been a chocoholic since I was a kid, and I have been baking since I was about seven years old," Edwards said. "I have always been disappointed with commercial brownies. You go anywhere to get a brownie, and they are just awful. They chintz on the ingredients, and they don't cook them right, just all kinds of reasons. I started tinkering with the brownie recipe; working on it so that it comes out real thick and real fudgey. A lot of places will have brownies that are really thin, and they just don't do anything."

Edwards figured it was time for a comeback.

"I've just kind of had a bug in me to do it again, but to do it only with the brownies this time," Edwards said. "And really focus in on one thing and do it right. I think too many companies out there are trying to do too many different things. They want to sell paninis and they want to sell whatever else: Italian ice and freezers and who knows what else. But we really wanted to focus in on the brownies."

The cafe style store has a clean, simple, cozy feeling. Maybe the cozy feeling comes from the aroma of the brownies that Edwards has been baking all day, or maybe it really is the oversized brown leather chairs. The store is also equipped with wireless Internet so customers can get online while they enjoy a brownie and a beverage.

"I just got a call from one of my friends who says he is coming in to do homework," McLain said. "Kids come in here with laptops and what not, hook-up to the Internet, have a brownie and some tea. They like it here a lot."

That's specifically why Edwards set up his shop the way he did.

"I wanted it to be a place where people can come in, have an espresso, a latte, a brownie and just kind of kick back and relax," Edwards said.

Edwards has plans for a grand opening sometime in October. With the store only being open to the public for a month, there are still some things that he is working on.

Throughout all the changes Edwards has made in his life, he stuck to his roots on one thing.

"If people don't think these are the best [brownies]," Edwards said, "I will be more than happy to give you your money back."