PrintWhy Eat Cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery When Everything Else Is So Much Better?
Editor's note: Every afternoon we like to post a short Sugar Rush to end your day. Think of it as the dessert to your daily blog reading.
While most of us in the office are not Magnolia Bakery cupcake fans, give us the other dessert options and they'll disappear within minutes. A new branch of the famous bakery opened this morning in Rockefeller Center to the delight (or dismay) of Midtown office workers, and we picked up a few treats to fill our post-lunch break bellies. You can find everything below at any of the Magnolia locations, but there must be a tiny bit of extra love in these freshly baked sugar-filled items of delight. At least I hope so, for the price.
Banana Pudding
Ed Levine says, "It's hard to make a banana pudding that nobody likes." Gordon Mark and I are devoted fans of the layers of vanilla wafers, fresh bananas, and vanilla pudding. It's ridiculously sweet, and keep an eye on your eating habits: if you sit down at the TV with this container, you might finish the entire thing. ($4.50 for 12oz.)
Peanut Butter Icebox Cake
Filled with super-light peanut butter cream and topped with broken Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Worth every penny if you are obsessed with peanut butter. ($4.00)
Key Lime Cheesecake
A slightly lighter version of what I imagine Sara Lee's version tastes like. ($4.50)
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Intense pumpkin flavor with a crumbly granola-y crust. If you eat this at 4 p.m., you might not feel like you're ruining dinner. ($4.50)
Mini Chocolate Pudding Pie
Reminds me of hand-mixed Jell-O boxed pudding with fake sweetener, which personally is very familiar and comforting, but may be boring to others. Don't think it would hurt to mix with the banana pudding. ($2.50)
Magnolia Bakery
1240 Sixth Avenue (at 49th Street), New York, NY 10036 (map)
212-767-1123
magnoliacupcakes.com
401 Bleecker Street (at West 11th Street), New York, NY 10014 (map)
212-462-2572
200 Columbus Avenue (at 69th Street), New York, NY 10023 (map)
212-724-8101
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12 Comments:
That banana pudding cup should ALWAYS be finished in a sitting, no exceptions! ^_^
Kathy YL Chan at 6:19PM on 10/08/08
Just wondering what you dislike about their cupcakes (Is it just too overhyped for you cool kids at SE???). I know that I've never been that impressed with the designer cupcake places here in LA.
FamishedFem at 7:34PM on 10/08/08
@Kathy: my stomach doesn't like it, though my heart and brain LOVE it.
@FamishedFem: way sweet frosting, too much of it. I'm a little bored of the cupcakes, though I have been known to sneak in a Hummingbird Cupcake every once in a while. the UWS location is my favorite..
Allison Hemler at 8:24PM on 10/08/08
They don't have salt in their recipe so the cake part always tastes a bit off to me. And while they are gorgeous, there is too much frosting for my liking. I find their cupcakes to be way too sugary overall.
kathryn at 12:48AM on 10/09/08
I agree, the frosting on the cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery is way too sweet.
Yeah I really like banana pudding. The first time I tried banana pudding was at Magnolia Bakery. Another good place for banana pudding is Sugar Sweet Sunshine. But wherever I get it, I usually finish a 12oz cup while walking around the city.
Gordon Mark at 2:13AM on 10/09/08
Sugar Sweet Sunshine's banana pudding is really good, and cheaper, of course. I like their cupcakes better, too.
I work a couple of blocks down from the new shop and although I'm not a big Magnolia fan, I'm still weary of the temptation.
Laurel E at 9:22AM on 10/09/08
never tried the banana pudding, now that the rock center location is 2 blocks from where i work that will probably change....
the peanut butter ice box cake is heaven. they also have a snickers one downtown that is a beautiful thing to behold as well. i ALWAYS get it instead of a cupcake!
sarahlucy at 10:55AM on 10/09/08
mmm the banana pudding looks delicious!
FoodinNY at 4:51PM on 10/10/08
to FamishedFem: I can't speak for the SE staff, but my dislike of Magnolia cupcakes is that that the two key components, the cake and the frosting, are both kind of crappy. The frosting is only mediocre - extremely sweet and the texture is a little too runny for my liking. The cake part is always dry! So dry!
dedogirl at 6:10PM on 10/13/08
Native to the West Village, I must say that I have a passionate distaste for Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. The frosting really kills them- I have a strong suspicion that it is actually nothing more than whipped butter with food coloring (perhaps some people like to eat plain butter, but I cannot say I'm one of them). However, this made me think that perhaps I should give some of their other desserts a chance, never having tasted one. The banana pudding looks delicious!
yw127 at 6:52PM on 10/15/08
I gotta agree - Magnolia cupcakes are crap. The frosting and cake are always dry. I usually go with Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the city and Heavenly Crumbs in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. But never EVER Magnolia. Plus all the other spots are not crowded with the SATC tour/crowd, so that's an extra bonus.
lazysundae at 9:20AM on 10/20/08
I am proud to be part of the Abrams clan, my brother Steven, his wife Tyra and my niece Olivia own Magnolia and I just want to wish them the best with this new store. Way to go, bro! Love-AMY
amyspepsi at 10:48PM on 11/17/08