It's not often that we make 'yay' inducing finds in Colombo so it's with much glee that we found Ambrosia. They do baked goodies, but they're not a home baker. They're a company, but the stuff we had was made by a very skilled hand and given the special attention that only home bakers are known to give.
They do plenty of cakes, roulades and cupcakes, and their prices are pretty good considering the quantity and quality you get. 'Ambrosia' is the word used for the food of the Greek gods, if you were wondering.
Editor's Note: While Ambrosia still remains one of the best bakers in town, we've come across more than a few complaints regarding their service, delays and price changes of cakes once the order has been made. So those looking to order, make sure to so with a day in advance and double check the price.
The Cupcakes
To be honest with you, I've never truly been blown away by anybody's cupcakes since sampling Sits. So Ambrosia was the first one since to truly impress. We tried the chocolate, red velvet, passion fruit and strawberry cupcakes.
They all had incredibly soft cake and extra creamy topping, which is basically what makes a cupcake so great – a lot of bakers find it hard to keep the cupcake fresh for long. These ones were so soft they melted in our mouths, and we found out why when we bit into it – the chocolate cupcake had a warm ganache filling, and the strawberry one had thick strawberry jam in its center. Foodgasms all around.
The passion fruit and red velvet didn't have gooey centers but had good topping – if you're a fan of the cream cheese frosting of red velvet, these guys are legit. The good thing about this place is that you're not forced to order 12 cupcakes, just because it's the minimum. You can order as little as four. A typical 6-cupcake pack will cost you Rs. 600. I can think of very few better ways of spending my money than on those chocolate-centered cupcakes.
The Roulade
Behold the magnificent roulade. A sweet roulade is apparently quite hard to perfect, because it requires you to slowly roll the delicate layers into a roulade without the whole thing coming apart.
So kudos. We don't want to gush this much but it's only because this roulade made us quite happy. On the outside were almond flakes, the next layer was meringue (basically egg whites and sugar), the next was thick cream, and finally fruit. It's a half-and-half roulade so one half was strawberry and the other mango. The strawberry slices were fresh and juicy, the almond flakes very sugary and melting into the cream, and all of it was skillfully combined without the fruit or the almond flavour overpowering the other.
This roulade cost Rs. 1900, and could have been cut into about 12 pieces. Their cakes are for around Rs. 1500 upwards, but the sizes are big, going up to even 20 pieces.
Conclusion
It's not fair to compare Ambrosia to home bakers at all, since they're bigger and more organized than that, but there's none of the mass produced meh-ness of big bakers here. They've obviously got a pro working at these cakes, and thankfully for decent prices considering quality and size.
Since they're a company, there's the perk of flexibility where quantity and customization are concerned. Also they do delivery, for a price according to the distance, so you can now sit at home and get these cakes brought to you. Never before has the prospect of getting fat been more attractive.
