If you are in New York City, are a fan of Sex and the City(SATC) and have a sweet tooth, you need to drop by Magnolia Bakery. After all, it’s the one that’s supposed to have kicked off the gourmet cupcake revolution, which has taken over the gastronomic world.
In SATC, it’s the Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker street in the West Village neighbourhood of Manhattan, where Miranda picks up her sweet treats. That’s the location of the first branch, opened in 1996 by two young women, and now, the bakery has several locations spread across the city. Most visitors, like myself, though, end up at the one at Rockefeller Center, simply because it’s a hop, skip and jump away from the razzle and dazzle of that touristy must-do, Times Square. And exactly for that reason, plus its proximity to Radio City Music Hall, it can mean a long wait in line to even get into the store.
The boutique bakery pretty much set the standard for vintage cool — a mannequin in a blue tutu and apron, lace curtains, blackboard signs et al. You cease to see anything else once you catch sight of the display counters, though, brimming with cakes, cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies, pies, brownies and the like, all made from scratch in store. If you have no prior idea about Magnolia’s menu, don’t even think about it, just order anything red velvet. It’s velvety perfection times ten, with that perfect mix of cream, sweet and sour, which, unfortunately, makes you inhale the dessert rather than savour it!
Magnolia fans have told us that we should also try the mini cheesecakes and their ‘famous’ banana pudding. Now, these New Yorkers don’t like to be kept waiting, and you’re literally hustled into making your selection. “A vanilla bean cheesecake, a slice of red velvet, a slice of Hummingbird (banana, pineapple and pecans with sweet cream cheese icing), a carrot cupcake, a tub of banana pudding, a couple of coconut macaroons with a hot macchiato,” I say, pretty pleased with myself for covering all the sections on the display menu. The sister, meanwhile, picks up the plastic cutlery and napkins, and with the goodies we head to the small park across the street to dine on dessert.
Everything is huge in America and so are the portion sizes. No matter now unctuous the cheesecake is or how creamy the banana pudding is, it’s hard to finish more than a few bites of each. It is also too good to leave for the sparrows. So we end up carrying the leftovers around all day long. To be honest, it’s totally worth toting around. We get to have dessert for dinner as well.