Hello everyone!
This blog will be a little bit of everything – snippets about my life, the baking business, introduce new flavors or some specials of the month!
This summer we took a trip to New York City with my family. I love NYC – the shopping, food, glamour and of course Central Park! You simply can’t get enough. A trip to Magnolia Bakery was at the top of my list of "places to see" while in NYC. Having recently started up Sweetness, I knew it was destiny to make the journey to Magnolia. Why, you ask?
Well, Magnolia Bakery started the cupcake craze when it was featured in an episode of Sex and the City. Since this bakery has basically been the inspiration for all other cupcakeries sweeping across the nation, I just couldn't leave NYC without a visit!
It was exciting to stand outside the door and just watch the commotion behind the large glass windows that encompassed this cornerstone bakery. Located at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan (one of its 3 locations), you couldn’t ask for a more ideal location. Outside there was the chaotic scene of busy professionals catching cabs, of fashionable moms pushing strollers, of tourists taking pictures of just about everything!
Inside, a long line of patient patrons moved along. As I entered the bakery, it had a very whimsical feel –it was an old world bakery. It smelled, well, sweet.The pastry chef was assembling a cake.The other bakers were frosting the last of the cupcakes using simply an off-set spatula to swirl the frosting into the ‘classic’ Magnolia swirl.There were separate lines for cookies or cake pick up. But come on, if you come to Magnolia, you come for the cupcakes (and I guess the banana pudding, from what I hear). Cupcakes were simply laid out on a baking tray. All you get is what is left for the day – and that day happened to be vanilla/vanilla or chocolate/chocolate.
My first lesson was to get there early enough so you can have a choice of flavors, otherwise you’ll be stuck with what’s left. I will say, the staff wasn’t particularly friendly. I guess I was expecting cute, courteous employees especially when you are buying CUPCAKES. Instead, I felt I was being prodded through the line, asked to make a decision very quickly (which is NEVER easy for me). But hey, that might be just the way New Yorkers are! Well I ended up buying a dozen cupcakes for my brother-in-laws’ birthday party and then bought a few extra for “industry analysis”.
Sitting outside Magnolia, my husband took a bite out of the chocolate. My sister and I shared the vanilla. Now, I was told that you go to Magnolia for the “experience” not so much the cupcakes. Well the experience was definitely worth it! The cupcakes were good, had a nice flavor and were fairly moist. The frosting was very rich and creamy – but way too sweet and dense for me! However, there is no way you can compare the moment of sitting on a bench in the heart of NYC, surrounded by sky scrapers, glamorous shops and lovely people on a beautiful August afternoon enjoying a famous cupcake. What a joy!
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