If you're a Sex And The City FANatic, you know Magnolia Bakery from Carrie & Miranda's famous cupcake eating scene discussing her new crush, Aidan, in Season 3, Episode 5, "no ifs, ands or butts." If not, Magnolia Bakery opened in New York on Bleecker Street back in 1996, and has been famous for their daily, made from scratch Cupcakes, Icebox Desserts (Pies, Cakes & Mini Cheesecakes), Brownies, Muffins & Squares.
If you live in LA and always "couldn't help but wonder" what they taste like, now's your chance because after months of rumors and impatient waiting, Magnolia Bakery finally opened on 3rd St in West Hollywood last Friday!
Now it's time for the goods. And, yes I just ate cupcakes for Breakfast. No, I don't feel bad about it because I only had 1/4 each of 3 (for now), and balanced it out with 1/2 a Raisin Bran Muffin. So there.
The Grubdown:
- my favorite, extremely moist & velvety, Chocolate Cupcake with sugary Vanilla Buttercream Frosting & Chocolate Sprinkles ($2.75)
- fluffy, old-fashioned buttery yellow cake flavor Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting & Pink Orb Sprinkles ($2.75)
- misses the rich cocoa mark, yet still light 'n fluffy Red Velvet Cupcake with airy Whipped Vanilla Cream Icing ($3.25)
- still warm, super moist, happy 'n healthy, one of the best I've had Raisin Bran Muffin ($2.25)
I was so excited to taste Magnolia's Cupcakes again that I went at the first shot I got – 8am Wednesday morning. I know what you're thinking, "Cupcakes for Breakfast?" Not to worry. It's best to eat your carbs in the morning, so you can burn them off all day long.
Upon walking in the bakery, I couldn't help but...notice the down-home country cute 'n ivory fresh decor, and super smiley, friendly service – the people behind the counter were happily taking out fresh trays of baked goodies for me to snap some pics.
I started with the Raisin Bran Muffin – I always say, "Eat your veggies first," but in this case it had to be the grains. Still warm from being fresh out the oven, the Muffin tastes buttery, moist, and is packed with Plump Raisins. It's definitely one of the fluffiest bran muffins I've had, and probably the best since it's not overly branned-out-dense, honey gooey, or dry.
On to the Chocolate Cupcake with Pastel Blue Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. Just looking at the cupcake, somehow I knew it would be my favorite, and low and behold it was. The Chocolate Cake is everything you want it to be – buttery, moist, fluffy & flavorful without being too rich or dense like Sprinkles'. The Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is a bit sugary, but still smooth.
Even though the Vanilla Cupcake has the same Frosting as the Chocolate, somehow it tastes less sugary and more buttery. Perhaps it's because the cake itself hearkens back to the buttery yum of yellow cakes back in the '50s. But, this Cupcake is lighter in color and density, making some serious magic in your mouth when combined with the Pastel Yellow Frosting.
Finally, the Red Velvet Cupcake. After reading much animosity from various bloggers like, "How COULD they use Vanilla frosting instead of Cream Cheese?!?", I'm happy to report that Cream Cheese Icing IS available, you probably just have to specify when ordering it. I, however, was still curious to taste what all the fuss was about. The Cupcake itself is light 'n fluffy, but really misses that red velvety dark cocoa richness. And I actually really enjoyed how airy and whipped creamy the Frosting tastes, but would prefer it on a different cupcake like Chocolate.
The fluffiness and guilt-free, just-right size of Magnolia's Cupcakes really won me over, once again. So if you're not a fan of Sprinkles' large & sometimes rather dense cupcakes, I'd definitely direct you here. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sprinkles' Strawberry, Chocolate Coconut, Red Velvet & Dark Chocolate Cupcakes, but they're definitely hard to finish in one sitting.
Magnolia sells 12 other Cupcake flavors like Caramel Meringue Buttercream & German Chocolate ($3.25). Some of their specialty items include 16 Cakes like Devil's Food & Peppermint Icebox ($26-55), 10 Pies like Apple Crumb & Peanut Butter Ice Box ($24), and 7 Mini Cheesecakes like Key Lime & White Chocolate Macademia ($5.50). They even make old-fashioned Whoopie Cookies ($2.50) and a "Famous Banana Pudding" ($4.50-36). To drink there's Apple Cider, Iced Tea, Homemade Lemonade, and Iced & Hot Coffees ($1.50-4). And to give there are Gift Baskets ($10-65), Aprons, Cookbooks, Sprinkle Jars, and T-shirts.
8389 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 323-951-0636.
P.S. I also had a chance to sample one of their complimentary Magic Cookie Bars at the counter, and it's mouth-droppingly delish. Enjoy!
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