[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: Visiting Magnolia

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
Visiting Magnolia
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1205510974.shtml


   [1]Some said that they were sweet, perky and crème filled, and
   [2]some said that they were dry, overly sugary and overrated. But when
   I heard about the [3]Magnolia bakery and the cupcake craze that had
   somehow passed me by, I had to find an answer to the question â how
   could someone make a fortune selling cupcakes?

   For the 18 years I spent as a PTA mom, cupcakes were my bake sale
   staple. The recipe was pretty standard â Dunkin Hines Devilâs Food or
   Yellow mix, buttercream frosting, some sprinkles. They were
   appreciated, but they were pretty standard. Since Magnolia was based
   in the Village, I imagined that theyâd be selling exotic and fancy
   stuff â perhaps some lychee nut cupcakes crowned with a birds-nest of
   spun sugar? Red bean cupcakes crowned with green tea icing?

   Walking to the bakery on Bleecker Street, I passed a couple of porn
   shops. New York fetish was having a sale. It must have been break time
   â in the front of the Japanese, Italian, multi-Fusion and all-natural
   Zen restaurants, the Mexican cooks were taking a cigarette break.
   Twenty-somethings clutched cellphones, having animated conversations
   or texting as they walked. One woman shouted âtoday is my debut and
   heâs going to be there. I donât think Iâll live!â A well-dressed man
   who looked like Karl Lagerfeld without the ponytail sneezed without
   covering his mouth. A pudgy locksmith standing in front of his shop
   recoiled from the sneeze in disgust.

   I found the bakery. There were no lines. On a weekday afternoon the
   crowd in the little bakery was confined to the inside. I was hoping to
   sit around the shop for about an hour, soaking up atmosphere and
   conversation, but the lack of seating and the constantly moving group
   of cupcake buyers made that impossible.

   But I didnât have to sit in the shop for hours to discover why it was
   so popular. I didnât even have to taste any of the dozens of perky
   pastel cupcakes that were arranged so un-artfully around Magnoliaâs
   tiny space. I just had to recognize that smell. Dunkin Hines yellow*.
   In a neighborhood that was oversupplied with every exotica you could
   imagine, the Magnolia bakers got rich by crème-filling Greenwich
   Villageâs unmet need for - Mom.

   * the [4]batter wasnât really Dunkin Hines, and it was a little less
   moist. Otherwise, they were just like my PTA specials â the frosting
   was more sugary (not buttercream) and they were decorated with the
   same white sprinkles.

References

   1. http://www.alarmingnews.com/archives/006879.html
   2. http://www.yelp.com/biz/magnolia-bakery-new-york
   3. http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/
   4. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://flyawaycafe.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/cupcakes.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flyawaycafe.com/the-magnolia-bakery-nyc-west-village/&h=360&w=480&sz=70&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=2fNAY0ssSlmZ5M:&tbnh=97&tbnw=129&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmagnolia%2Bbakery%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26c2coff%3D1%26sa%3DG