Artists at heart, Hannah and Shane Donaldson are now known for their creativeness in the kitchen - with people travelling from near and far for their breads and pasties.
The pair, from Co Down, started a humble home delivery service, working from a domestic oven. Fast forward two years and they are now preparing to open a shop in Hillsborough.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Hannah explained that they met during their studies, and travelled to France on a research project to learn more about bread from renowned peasant farmer, Nicolas Supiot.
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From there, they were led into the realms of natural cider, wine and perry - fruits farmed and harvested with sensitivity towards the natural ecosystems.
"We both met one another during a Fine Art degree in Ulster University Belfast and were in our final year," Hannah said.
"After graduating, Shane was accepted onto an MFA, Masters of Fine Art in London and got a scholarship for that. We both relocated to London together. Shane then decided that the route wasn't for him, and it wasn't really for me either.
"We both found employment in one of the biggest artisan sourdough production bakeries in London. They are known for producing really good, high quality products. Through there, we both learned how to bake.
"After working for a bit, we decided to travel across Europe. We met a peasant farmer and stayed with him for a couple of nights and saw what he was doing. From there, it was one recommendation to the next and we found other bakers. That world of creative people in that community, who were so giving of their food, growing it and sharing it, we really found that interesting.
"It also satisfied our need to continue to be creative people. We travelled to Oxford, where we worked for organic farmer, plant breeder, and former UCL professor John Letts, who specialises in growing and harvesting diverse populations of ancestral varieties of cereal crops.
"Our travels then took us onwards to Italy and Denmark before we returned home with an abundance of knowledge to launch our own cider and bread business."
Known as the Spontaneous Deuce, they started as a doorstep delivery service, which saw the couple delivering loaves of bread to households up and down the country. Using their profits from their delivery service, they were able to purchase a second-hand, partially working, commercial oven in June 2020 which gave them the capacity to bake more.
During the pandemic, the couple made sure to do all they could to aid the survival of their new business and kept showing up week on week at a small artisan outdoor market - and their customers kept showing up.
In December, they will be opening their first bakery shop in Hillsborough, where they will be able to bring their full offering of baked goods to the public throughout the week, under one roof.
Shane said: "We would just like to thank people for returning, when we are at local markets. Their support is greatly appreciated and we are looking forward to having the shop, which will be called the Round House Bakery. It will allow customers to come and visit us and take products home."
Hannah and Shane will be at the Moira Speciality Food Fair on Saturday, September 15 and can also be found on Instagram here.
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