Where to find best brownies in Coimbatore?

Delightfully fudgy and not cakey: that’s my verdict as I bite into the velvety hazelnut fudge brownie on a sunny afternoon at Amber The Whisk factory of KG Cinemas. “I wanted to make some brownies for my nephew. He was two-and-a-half then,” recalls Janu Rajendran who co-founded Amber along with her husband Shankar Krishna during the pandemic.

As the standalone takeaway store rings in its first anniversary, she talks of how they built the home-grown dessert brand around chocolate, comfort, and the belief that one good bite can bring a customer back. “As a kid, I used to enjoy my aunt’s home-made brownies. I recreated the texture from memory, while researching ways to make it a preservative-free product using quality ingredients,” she explains adding that hazelnut was a signature flavour from day one.

The couple first started a cloud kitchen called Amber. While home baking boomed during the pandemic, repeat customers made the difference. “We created the takeaway store for the convenience of our customers,” says Shankar adding that they often asked for individual portions, a single brownie for a child to eat after coming back from school, rather than a box of six or eight from the cloud kitchen. The takeaway space also allows customers to walk in, try a dessert, and discover the brand. “The growth has been organic. At pop-ups, we simply hand out free samples. We let people taste the product. The minute they take one bite, they realise it isn’t just another brownie,” he adds.

The store stays open till midnight on weekdays and till 1 am on weekends catering to late-night dessert cravings and last-minute celebrations. Some of the intensely chocolatey brownies come with instructions, guiding customers on how best to enjoy them. “A dessert is an experience. The same principle applies to our ingredients. We avoid artificial colours and flavours and use natural vanilla. We keep wastage under control by producing according to demand rather than pushing large quantities into the market,” says Janu.

Having travelled abroad and enjoyed desserts there, the couple wanted to recreate those indulgent desserts with a home-style touch. “The repeat customers gave us a big boost,” says Shankar as he describes how their brownie feels lighter than a conventional cake-like brownie. “We wanted it to be fudgy, so you get more of the chocolate, but it still feels light,” he adds

The positive response encouraged them to experiment with premium ingredients and natural flavours consistently. “Along with brownies, we added cookies, and chocolate based desserts as we realised we are good at working with chocolates. We use imported Belgian and French couvertures. We also developed a proprietary chocolate blend. All our recipes are developed in-house, you won’t find them online,” explains Shankar.

The menu has grown with a variety of brownies, cookies, Biscoff cheesecakes, puddings, cake slices and other chocolate-based desserts. A jaggery-based blondie brownie also has a niche following.

“The basque cheesecake is one of our most challenging additions as it had to be creamy inside and deeply caramelised on the outside without appearing burnt,” says Shankar as I try the buttery cheesecake that combines thetexture of custard, tangy cream cheese while the nearly-burnt top balances the sweetness.

While hazelnut fudge brownie remains one of Janu’s favourites, Shankar picks the millionaire brownie, with its layers of biscuit, brownie and caramel. Their focus is on what they describe as ‘comforting desserts’ familiar enough to appeal to a wide audience, but one that also makes a customer curious. “We are particular about the chocolate-to-cake ratio. The idea is to create a brownie that tastes almost like chocolate in texture and intensity, rather than a cake disguised as one. We don’t want to go into the luxury segment. We want everyone to be able to experience that comfort and joy,” says Janu.

While Janu is a self-taught baker, she actively observes dessert trends while travelling, attends workshops and studies new techniques. “But we keep returning to the same question: will the dessert fit Amber? Consistency is very important,” says Shankar adding that innovations like banana loaf with caramel sauce, pistachio loaf slices, brownie variations, and cookie pies have found their way into the menu, but chocolate always remains the core.

Available at Amber store a takeaway space at KG Cinemas compound. Call 9585126237 or pre-order @Amberthewhiskfactory on Instagram