i heart cake

If you’re a Sex and The City fan, then you’ll know what a Magnolia Cupcake is. If not, you can quickly read about it here.

I have just come from an awesome 4 week holiday from the States where i visited some great places such as Vegas, San Fran, Hawaii and of course New York. It was a holiday to take in the sights but i think the culinary delights overshadowed everything. The food in America is so expanse that we never ate at the same place twice (except for a few exceptions). One of those exceptions was The Magnolia Bakery.

Before heading over there i was debating about whether to do the SATC tour. I had read a number of reviews where they said it that it wasn’t as good as it used to be. One of the highlights was of course Carries apartment. Now that the TV series is over, the apartment was sold to a private vendor and as a result they have cordoned off the front steps so you can no longer sit and take a photo. Most reviews also stated that the cupcakes at Magnolia’s were over-rated. Reading this had me highly disappointed and subsequently put me off so i decided not to do the tour. As luck would have it, whilst we were down in West Village taking in the sights and the shopping, we happened to stumble upon the bakery so it was much to my delight that i got to try them out anyway!

The bakery was busy (as expected) and since it was almost evening, a few of the cupcakes were sold out so i opted for the regular vanilla and chocolate. As soon as i bit into the cupcake i was instantly transported to cupcake heaven. It was delicious! The cupcake was super moist and oh so fluffy. And the buttercream! It was vanilla buttercream (with colouring) but it left this sort of tingle on the lips. I instantly wanted more!

We loved the West Village/SoHo area so much that we headed back there a few days later and i was able to have another hit of these cupcakes. This time i got to try the red velvet cupcake which i was dying to. Australian’s don’t really know what red velvet is so i was determined to try it on this holiday and i am so glad i did. Again the cupcake was just divine and but the colour! The red was so bright it really popped.

Now that we’re back home (boo) i was asked to make some cupcakes for a friends birthday. Instantly i knew i had to try and recreate the Magnolia Cupcake. A quick google search and i had the recipe in my hand. Now i don’t know if these are as good as the ones at the bakery (who am i kidding), but if not they’re still pretty darn good.

Magnolia Cupcakes

Makes 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 24 cupcake wrappers
• 55 minutes 30 mins prep

Method

1. Line 24 muffin tins with cupcake papers.
2. In a small bowl, add the flours; stir to combine; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter using an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3. Add the sugar gradually and beat for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overmix.
5. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 full. Bake in a 350° oven for 20-25
   minutes.
6. Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from the tins and cool on a wire rack before icing. Ice with tinted Vanilla Buttercream.

Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

Makes enough for a 2-layer 9-inch cake or 2 dozen cupcakes

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 6-8 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 layer 9-inch cake Change size or US/metric
• 15 minutes 15 mins prep

Method

1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add in 4 cups sugar, then the milk and vanilla. On medium speed of an electric mixer, beat about 3-5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.
2. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well (about 2 minutes) after each addition, until the icing is thick enough for good spreading consistency (you may not need all of the sugar).
3. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. Use and store the icing at
4. room temperature because icing will set if chilled. The icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Recipe adapted from here.

The Magnolia Bakery

401 Bleecker Street

Corner of West 11th Street in the West Village

Tags: Cupcake, NYC

This entry was posted by jen on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 am and is filed under Around the Globe, Cakes & Cupcakes, Recipes, Recommendation, Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.