Magnolia Bakery: Little Bites of Heaven

Americans have gone cupcake crazy, as proven by the crazy amounts of cupcake bakeries popping up at every corner.  But really, can you blame them?  I mean the little pieces of cakes topped with pillows of frosting, sometimes filled with treasures that explode when you take a bite... Ahhhh, the cupcake! 
 

Recently I visited the much talked about Magnolia Bakery in midtown Manhattan and although they are not strictly a cupcake bakery, it is a bestselling item for them.  I am often weary of places that are super famous in New York because I feel that when they become tourist attractions, they lose their charm and deliciousness.  Well, this does not seem to be the case for this wonderland of baked goods.

I took home two cupcakes: The Hummingbird (a banana cake with pecans and pineapple and a cream cheese frosting) and The Red Velvet for the Hubby.  Here is what I look for in a cupcake: A cake that is moist and flavorful and frosting that is fluffy, soft, and not too sweet.  I absolutely hate it when the frosting feels like hardened sugar and you cant just scoop it up with your fingers and lick it.  So, when I opened that adorable Magnolia box, the first thing I noticed was how soft and fluffy their frosting was.  I dug into my Hummingbird cupcake and it was moist and the flavors perfectly balanced.  The frosting: not too sweet and perfectly smooth.  The flavors of the frosting and the cake melded so well together that they just melted away.

Now, let me reveal this to you: If you have never been to Magnolia, their cupcakes are not what you should go for.  You NEED to go there for what is literally a cloud of heaven packed into a container: their Banana Pudding! Soooooooo yummy I can’t stand it.  You open the top and it looks light and fluffy, like ice cream.  The bananas and wafers are mixed into the pudding and the banana flavors just took me away to a Caribbean get away.  It will blow your socks off.

Now look at how brilliantly all the ingredients are integrated, how soft and fluffy that pudding is, and now imagine it as it melts away and you are left with sheer giddiness.  That, is good pudding!

Don’t worry, those of you that do not live near NYC, Magnolia is preparing an online store and will be delivering to your home, so that no matter where you are, you too can enjoy these gifts of the gods.