by It's a mecca for retro cake bakers, Sex in the City fans, and people needing an immediate huge sugar fix - the Magnolia Bakery on Bleeker usually has queues of drooling customers stretching out the door and down the street, all happy to wait for its frosting-heavy, but deliciously light baked offerings.
What's the draw? Pink, green and blue-iced cupcakes the size of the average birthday cake, topped with melt-in-the-mouth buttercream, in chocolate and vanilla, with specials like the exotic Red Velvet (chocolate sponge dyed red with colouring), carrot and "hummingbird", according to the day of the week. Everything is made right there in the shop, with fresh cupcakes iced right in front of you - calorie counters avert your eyes as the bakers slap on massive spoons of pastel frosting, twirl to get the distinctive Magnolia finish, then top off with sprinkles.
Cupcakes take centre-stage, but don't overlook Magnolia's other retro delights. For English visitors, especially, the list reads like an inventory of American comfort food: banana pudding isn't something I'd come across before, or icebox cakes, but they conjure up mental images of Little House on the Prairie home cooking. The cheesecake is also light and delicious, as are the crumbles and bigger layer cakes. It's all gorgeous. You might want to cancel your next four meals.
Go daytime, during the week, and you'll beat the worst of the rush, but at any time, the tiny shop quickly fills its three or four tables and chairs. New Yorkers buy by the box - you're only allowed to take away 6 cupcakes - but if you've got the time, it's worth hanging around to eat in with a coffee too, if only to cut through some of that frosting.
Cupcakes have taken over NYC, with 'splitter' bakeries, Buttercup Bake Shop and Sugar Sweet Sunshine, spreading the Magnolia feel, if not the official line. But for the original and best, head down to the Village...
Comments
jesikha says...
this makes me miss new york! i went to sugar sweet sunshine because i was usually in les..
i haven't had a decent cupcake since i left nyc..
Posted 518 days ago.
victoria says...
I know! NYC does the best cupcakes. The Hummingbird Bakery on Portobello Road is probably the nearest thing London has to Magnolia, with American flavours like Red Velvet Cake and a proper carroty one, but the cupcakes are literally half the size, twice as expensive, and they just don't have the same sugary, majestic presence. Maybe it's in the name - British fairy cakes, delicate and lovely though they are, are never going to punch their weight against American cupcakes.
Posted 518 days ago.
montee51 says...
Im drooling and longing for a return to NYC. I am a big fan of cupcakes, but the cheesecake is king and nowhere better (except for perhaps the Giggleswick Tea Rooms in Yorkshire) than in New York.
Posted 515 days ago.
lucysoff says...
oh dear..... i think i might have to start dividing my 'to-do list' into categories. This experience would probably go under 'culinary extravaganzas'- sounds delicious. I love how there's an imposed cupcake quota.
Posted 515 days ago.
Hannah says...
Mmmmm these are the best cakes I've ever tasted, they're huge and worth the wait.
Posted 497 days ago.
Shannon says...
oooooooh i like sugar sweet sunshine...but i love the magnolia bakery cookbooks.
Posted 481 days ago.
NicholasAdams says...
forgive me for opining, but Boston has better cupcakes. Quebrada bakery is where its at! mmm Arlington, MA, goodness
Posted 468 days ago.
victoria says...
Mmm - thanks! Quebrada bakery's gone on my cupcake tour list for the fall!
Posted 467 days ago.
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