daily special - 7/28/2009

Everyone and everything deserves a second shot. It's the inevitable result of the human condition that mistakes will happen. For all the screw-ups, the bad eggs, the maladroits, and the Republicans out there, the drunken escapades, the one-night stands, and the Godfather Part III's, even down to the bad flavor ideas, redemption is always a possibility. And so today, we offer the tragedy that was rum raisin a much-needed reprieve.

Today's daily special:

Rum Raisin Revisited

A moist rum cake with the faintest hint of grape, topped with a grape-raisin frosting. Garnished with rum-soaked raisins. Try one free with your order, or take a dozen for $10.

Enjoy.


-Michael

exquisiteambrosia@gmail.com
305.502.3632

daily special - 7/27/2009

Apologies for the lack of daily special as of late. It's been kind of crazy these past couple of days.

So, let's keep things simple. Today's daily special:

Frosted Sugar Cookies

The classic sugar cookie, buttery, sweet, and delicious, topped with a light almond decorative frosting. Comes in a variety of colors.

Try a free sample with your order, or take a dozen for $6.

daily special - 7/24/2009

Today's daily special:

Apple Turnovers

A flaky, buttery pastry shell filled with a delicious mixture of cooked apples, spices, and caramel. Deep fried or baked. Try one on the house with your order, or have a dozen for $8.


-Michael.

exquisiteambrosia@gmail.com
305.502.3632

daily special - 7/23/2009

Yesterday, I found myself craving a nice, Italian meal. Today, I find myself craving a nice, Italian dessert.

Today's daily special:

Biscotti

An Italian staple to be enjoyed with a nice hot drink. Twice-baked, and hence, quite crispy, our biscotti are made with star anise, spices, and assorted nuts. Add one to your order for $1 or enjoy a dozen for $8.



Michael.
exquisiteambrosia@gmail.com
305.502.3632

daily special - 7/22/2009

Because I've been living off of stale croissants and reheated bacon for the past week...

Today's daily special:

Blueberry Muffins

Crumbly, moist, delicious... The perfect thing to go with a morning cup of coffee... or to snack on during your afternoon cravings... or to have for dinner. Try one for a dollar or enjoy a dozen free with an order of $50 or more.

baking quest.

It was suggested to me that I try to do something interesting and instructional with this blog. Something that combines my love to blab on and on about things I find interesting, my penchant for baking, and my... general existence as a science nerd, into a useful information source that could lead to some sort of beneficial outcome.

So, we're going to continue to do scientific breakdowns of baking processes and components. Only we're going to add on every couple of days until you're able to develop your own delicious cake recipe, all by yourself. Is it pretentious for a 17 year old freelance cupcake maker to decide to teach people how to bake? Well, yes. But it doesn't mean we can't have a good time.

So keep checking in. We'll start with the basics first: the functions of the main components of cake baking, which to use given which circumstances, and a breakdown of the important reactions that occur during the baking process. Then we'll move on to balancing ingredients in recipes, a few general rules to keep in mind, and some final procedural tips and tricks.

Oh, and of course we're going to cover frosting. What self-respecting baking blog wouldn't?

an exquisite photo shoot.

Apologies for the lack of daily special today, but, on the plus side, here are the long-awaited sample photos I promised:

Would you buy a used car from this man? Well, probably not, but
that's no reason not to buy some delicious baked goods from him.


The Reservoir Dogs shot - with cupcakes.

A stack of Chocolate Chip Cookies and unfrosted Key Lime and Original cupcakes.


The Naked Original. It merited a second posting.


Maybe better than Naked; The Original topped with a chocolate-almond-caramel icing.


Oh, no... I'm Seeing Red (haha, it's a pun!).


The Chocolate Trifecta.


Seeing Red Cupcake after about five minutes of shooting...


Coffeeshop Cupcakes; left: Cake-o-ccino


Coffeeshop Cupcakes, Part II: Mocha Madness


You put Da Key Lime in da Coconut, and drink 'em both up...


A stack of unfrosted Key Lime Cupcakes... oh my!


A not-quite-finished Tiramisu Cupcake.


You can never have enough Seeing Red Cupcakes...


Mmhmm... Chocolate Chip...


The Original in all its glory. What more need be said?


Come on, how could you not buy a cupcake from that face?

daily special - 7/20/2009

Odd nights merit odd sweets.

Today's daily special: Chocolate and Grapefruit Cookies

You wouldn't expect the flavors to meld very well, but the citric bitterness of the grapefruit pairs wonderfully with the essence of cocoa and spices.

Enjoy one free with your order or try a dozen for $6!

a sample of photos.

And here's the first of many of the lovely Miss Eva Suarez's photos of some of my products. I'll post the rest after I've gotten a decent amount of sleep.

Finally. A picture where I don't look like 250 pound rag doll with scoliosis. And they said it couldn't be done.


P.S. Kindly ignore what appears to be oil on my face... I promise, it was frosting I tried to wipe away...









We... got kind of hungry during shooting. Here is [half of] a Key Lime in Da Coconut cupcake.














The Original. Sans frosting. Just further proof about how being naked can be a beautiful, beautiful thing.















Take one already delicious chocolate chip cookie. Add a layer of equally delicious almond frosting. What do you get? Well, his friends call him El Burro Delicioso, but you can just call him... a frosted chocolate chip cookie.












Alright, well those took two hours to download and re-upload. So, let's call it a night. Tune in tomorrow for more pictures, as well as a new installment in the Science of Baking, and maybe even a recipe for you to try at home. Maybe.

See ya.

daily special - 7/19/2009

Yesterday was exhausting. Late night baking rush, early morning decorating rush, insane bayside photoshoot, and finally a sort of cotillion that was riddled with 3 and a half hours of Filipino tradition that could not be interrupted for anything in this world.

Anyway, today I feel like I could use something to take the edge off and get me relaxed. What better to do that than a traditional, gooey, chocolatey dessert?

Daily Special: Pecan Pie

A Southern staple, taken up a step or two. Whole pecans, chocolate and caramel brick, more pecans, pecan brittle, and salted caramel. Try a mini-tart for $1.50, or an entire pie for $8.00.
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Speaking of the photo shoot, I'll have those pictures up later today, hopefully after I stop hearing... whatever it is I heard last night.

daily special - 7/18/2009

Alright, so maybe not a total bust, but certainly not the success I was hoping for. Oh, well. Dust off and keep trying, I suppose.

Today's daily special:

'Deez Coconuts' Cupcakes

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Miami, do... everything you can to not sound like a racist. But more importantly: take advantage of the abundance of fresh tropical fruit. Made with fresh coconut water, coconut chunks, and coconut milk. Topped with coconut buttercream. Mmmhm, coconut.

Try them for a dollar each or enjoy a dozen as a free gift with orders of $50 and above.

daily special - 7/17/2009

Aha! And so, after a two-day delay, today marks the first official day of business! Hurrah!

I will be posting the daily special here each and every single morning, as soon as I decide what it it shall be. Today seems like a celebration is in order, so let's go with something that is as childish as it is complex:

Malt Shop Munchies Cupcakes:

A sweet malt chocolate cake with a slightly bitter aftertaste, topped with a light, airy malted milk and cherry whipped topping, and finished, as one would expect, with a cherry on top. A childhood classic reinvented in a brand new (and awfully tasty) way.

Try it today for a dollar a cupcake, or enjoy a dozen free as a gift on orders of $50 or more. Malt Shop Munchies will be available after today as a special request for $18 a dozen, $26 a batch.
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Here's to hoping that the first day of business does not prove to be a bust!

business update.

Despite all of the effort and care I put into making my first menu, it's been brought to my attention that it's rather limited given the full range of goods I've been known to make. To rectify this, while still saving myself the hassle and money that would accompany making and printing a set of new menus, I've decided to just post a few additions here. God bless the Internet, eh?

As for the signature cupcakes, I offer them in the following varieties of flavors, in addition to the ones on the menu:

Dulce de Leche
Bacon Infused Chocolate
Green Tea & Ginger
Chocolate-Almond
Strawberry-Lime
Orange-Chocolate
Autumn Spice
Mojito
Pina Colada
Almond Coffeecake (with choice of Strawberry and Blueberry Filling)
Apple-Walnut Coffeecake

Prices available upon request. Moreover, each new variation added as a daily special will be subsequently made available upon special request.

As for other, non-cupcake items available, we have:
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate Dipped Truffles (in a variety of flavors)
White Chocolate Coconut Truffles
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Truffles
Chocolate Chip Cookies (with or without walnuts)
Frosted Sugar Cookies
Triple Chocolate Cookies
Peanut Butter Chip Chocolate Cookies
Almond Brownies
Frosted Espresso Brownies
Cheesecake Brownies
Spinach "Greenies"
Quiche Lorraine
Spinach Quiche
"Thankya Very Much" Peanut Butter and Bananas Pie
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake
Caramel Apple Tart
Dill and Cheese Scones

Again, prices are available upon request.

And, an important note I forgot to add in the menu: I do big cakes, too, both decorated and non-decorated. Decorated cakes require at least a week's notification before the event and an in-person meeting to discuss size, flavor, decoration, price, and delivery. Non-decorated cakes require two-day's notification and are currently limited to the following varieties:

The Dark Beast: a very, very rich single layer flourless chocolate cake topped with chocolate ganache

The Queen of Sheeba (La Reine de Saba): my take on Julia Child's classic single-layer chocolate cake, infused with a toasty almond flavor and topped with chocolate buttercream.

Chocolate Wishes and Caramel Dreams: 4 layers of decadent chocolate cake sandwiched with rich salted caramel and covered in chocolate ganache.

Classic Diner Mile-High Chocolate Cake: 6 layers of classic chocolate cake filled with fluffy vanilla buttercream and finished off with a dark chocolate ganache

Classic Diner Mile-High Coconut Cake: 4 layers of coconut cake made from scratch, with a coconut flavored buttercream.
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In other news, I've scheduled a photography session with a good friend of mine for this Saturday, so you can expect photographs of some of these delicious treats posted soon to tempt your sweet tooth.

Have a good one.

a brand new blog.

Welcome to the official blog for my new little endeavor: Exquisite Ambrosia, a made-to-order specialty baked goods catering service.

And now for a brief history. For those of you who don't know the story, this whole mercenary of cupcakes thing started out a couple of years ago in school. I had this (now defunct) multimedia arts publishing program that was geared towards helping underprivileged kids circulate their art for no charge. Needless to say, this cost a lot of money, and after getting some start-up cash by painting houses and roofs and doors and such, I found that, by far, my biggest income came from the little sales of delicious contraband I had at school. It started with candy in tenth grade. Then I moved on to homemade brownies. That proved to be a much bigger success. Then last year I started making signature cupcakes in a variety of different, unique flavors. This brought in a lot of cash, but unfortunately was not enough to keep my project afloat, and it wound up in the toilet. A pity.

However, it did make me realize that not only do I love baking, but I'm good at it, good enough so that other people would pay to taste my creations. And so, here I am, 17 years old, without a job, a car, or a cent to my name, being advised to try and make money by doing something I love. I assume they meant baking, as prostitution, awesome as it may be, is just not in the cards right now.

In this blog, you'll find me detailing some of the more exciting adventures I experience while heading this little project. I'll also be sharing some insights, opinions, recipes, and random blurbs that all may or may not have something to do with my baking quest. I also might occasionally burst into some biochemical diatribe explaining some of the science of baking, which is just a subject I find incredibly fun and therefore want to impose on the world. Do enjoy.

And now, without further ado, I present to you the first functional menu for Exquisite Ambrosia!