I’m sinking my teeth into an incredibly soft red velvet cupcake topped with a mountain of smooth, delicious cream cheese frosting, and I think I already know my verdict on the rest of the cupcakes. The chocolate fudge one is incredibly rich, while the vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream frosting is classic with its sweet, simple flavour. The Oreo vanilla cupcake is a lot more indulgent and features half an Oreo cookie perched atop a swirl of chocolate frosting, while the cake has little bits of Oreo in it. I could go on and on but the cupcakes are delicious, comforting and perfect for a teatime treat.

Ambrosia happens to be one of the latest baking ventures to hit Colombo’s infinite list of bakeries. Placing focus on desserts namely indulgent layered cakes, cupcakes and fruit tarts, the venture is run by two women who handle the entire business on their own. Speaking to a co-partner Lasanthi Fernando, she revealed that she’s always wanted to open a business of her own and paired with her closest childhood friend, they opened up Ambrosia with a tagline ‘A Taste from Heaven’. “We love baking and cooking, and how can you go wrong serving delicious food to people? We have regular customers now and it’s been only a little over two months since we started operations,” explained Lasanthi.

Other items on the list include vanilla chocolate chip and double chocolate chip cookies which are ideal with a steaming mug of coffee or just to munch as a snack, the fruit tarts (available in strawberry, peach and kiwi) and almond tarts which make perfect accompaniments for your mid-afternoon tea. There’s mini meringues too, and they are filled with liquor-infused chocolate and topped with fresh strawberry halves. The cheesecake by Ambrosia is light and made to a family recipe and is available for orders with a choice of three toppings - blueberry, strawberry or passion fruit curd.

Cakes on the menu are something else. The Chocolate Indulgence features a brownie base, followed by a spread of rich chocolate ganache, and then a layer of chocolate cake and the entire cake is covered with ganache and topped with fresh strawberries. The Almond Frost is a lighter cake and features three layers of soft almond cake with an almond frosting. The Chocolate Mousse Cake is a rich dark chocolate cake covered with liquor-infused chocolate mousse. The Strawberry Nutella Paradise is the ideal cake if you consider Nutella a staple in your diet. Made in either single or double layers of chocolate cake, it includes a generous slathering of Nutella followed by fresh cream and then topped with fresh strawberries.

Ambrosia also does a lovely range of chutneys, jams and spreads. Choose from the strawberry, passion fruit, and tomato jams, the orange and whiskey marmalade, sweet billing chutney and fried onion sambol. Recipes for the treats are their own, and while Ambrosia is only doing cakes and desserts currently, there are plans to introduce a savoury range soon. The range will include orders for dinner such as salads, pastas and lasagna dishes which can be picked up prior to an event. Ingredients are locally sourced and it’s advisable that small orders be made a day or two prior for pick up, while larger orders require a week’s notice.

For regular updates and contact details, do check out Ambrosia on Facebook.
Address for pick up: 2A, Turnour Road, Colombo 08.

By Sarah Kellapatha
Photos courtesy Ambrosia