Foodies Anonymous

While I was in New York city, the land of the cupcake shop, I stopped by Magnolia Bakery. Ever since the “Lazy Sunday” digital short aired on SNL a few years ago, I was desperately curious. What was so good about these cupcakes that they inspired song lyrics? I had to know. So while I didn’t see the Statue of Liberty, I did eat a Magnolia Bakery cupcake.

I hiked over to the Magnolia Bakery shop on Bleecker Street with a childhood friend after a day of examining odd exhibits at the Guggenheim (apparently, there’s a couple). There was already a line when we got there. It was pretty cold that day. My fingers froze a bit. But the line moved pretty quickly. The nice thing about Magnolia is they keep the cupcakes on the side near the window on baker’s sheets lined in cute little doilies, and let you fill the boxes yourself. Before you know it, you’re inside. The funny part is that while you’re waiting, Magnolia feels a bit like a private sweet-tooth club, with a cupcake bouncer at the door – a really sweet, cheerful lady that keeps watch over the window and controls the flow of people with access to cupcakes.

Inside, Magnolia is just a really warm, feel-good establishment, where everything feels and tastes very home-made. It’s a little shop with friendly bakers. The cupcakes are a normal, manageable size, and mostly vanilla and chocolate with swirly pastel vanilla buttercream frosting with colorful sprinkles, that really took me back to my elementary school days. There are some with chocolate buttercream frosting, which I wholeheartedly recommend. I’m not usually a big fan of frosting, but this was absolutely delicious. Not too sweet, not too bitter. One minor complaint that I have about Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes, is the same one that I had with Sprinkles cupcakes. Their frosting is disproportionately sweeter than their cupcakes. Again, not a place for someone like me, who eventually sheds frosting in favor of just the cake portion. But the frosting is, in and of itself, just yummy, even by the standards of a self-proclaimed frosting-hater. So if you’re a frosting fan, this really is the place to be. The old school sprinkles provide just that touch of texture that makes for frosting heaven.

Another plus point about the Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street is that there’s a little park nearby with chess tables. So even though the bakery is small with no place to sit down and triumphantly eat the cupcakes you stood in line for for so long, you can skip on over right across the street, pop open your box over one of the granite chess boards, and indulge in fresh-baked happiness. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll even improve your game. Or at least soothe the pain when you lose miserably to one of the octogenarian park regulars.