Magnolia Bakery

Tis a truth universally acknowledged that young women of a certain age and disposition know exactly what Magnolia Bakery is - what it is famous for, where it is located, and why they might like to go there.
This is because Magnolia Bakery - along with Jimmy Choo slingbacks, Manolo Blahnik platforms, nameplate necklaces, flower brooches and Marlboro lights - was given instant cult status when it was featured in an episode of a little show called Sex and the City. Perhaps you've heard of it?

I visited Magnolia Bakery for the first time in late 2006. It was winter - perfect cupcake-scoffing weather - and I indulged in a cupcake (or two) every day of my ten-day New York visit. Needless to say, I returned looking rather like a cupcake myself. Charged with the mission of introducing Caliban to all things sweet and cholesterol-raising, I had to take him to Magnolia on our New York visit. Twice.

Magnolia really began the "cupcake revolution" of which we are still in the throes. Sydneysiders can choose from any number of cupcake offerings - Cupcakes on Pitt (popular with ACP girls), Cupcake Bakery (one of my favourites, for its fab red velvet cake), The Cupcake Factory, My Little Cupcake, Babycakes (the Summer Hill shop is great), and my personal favourite, Sparkle Cupcakery in Surry Hills. Magnolia was where it all began, though, in 1996, when childhood friends Allysa Torey and Jennifer Appel decided to open their own bakery in New York's West Village. Like most co-owners, they eventually began to tire of each other and the partnership broke down. Appel launched her own, rival bakery, The Buttercup Bake Shop, and sparked a "cupcake war." Buttercup Bake Shop begat Little Cupcake Bakeshop, and a foodie revolution was born. Now, the best cupcakes of the year are reviewed annually by New York magazine, along with other city staples like pizza, burgers, sandwiches and cocktails.

But I digress. Magnolia is famed for its super-sweet, super-creamy buttercream frosting, and its moist, light cake. (Pictured here is the red velvet cake with whipped cream cheese frosting). The bakery also serves icebox cake (a Depression-era cake made of layered biscuit and cream) and banana pudding - but I haven't tasted these, so I'll stick to cupcakes. The frosting is thick, creamy, buttery and sweet - basically, if you're not a diabetic by the time you leave the bakery, you probably haven't eaten enough. They're still the best cupcakes I've ever tasted - and I make it my mission to try a lot!

I bought the bakery's cookbook for my Mum and stepmother when I visited the first time, and cribbed the cupcake recipe for myself. I've made it about a thousand times in the last three years, and it never fails to impress. I've revised the original recipe to my own taste - I add more vanilla extract and less icing sugar to the frosting, and baking powder to the cake (so it's even lighter, and rises more easily). Here is the recipe. Enjoy. In moderation.

CUPCAKES:
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups caster sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (C).
2. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flours and baking powder. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 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 overbeat (this will make cakes tough). Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
5. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

ICING:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (not melted!)
4 to 6 cups icing sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

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

Magnolia Bakery
corner W11th and Bleecker Sts, New York
www.magnoliacupcakes.com

Below: me and my cupcake-softened core. Thank God for Diet Coke.

wd50: round one

Eating dinner at wd50 is not merely to swallow food on a plate – it is to reveal the flavours, textures and customs we usually associate with food, and turn them on their heads. Completely. The food is art, pure and simple, and yet there is nothing pure and simple about it. It is the most creative, inventive meal you will ever eat, and you should definitely make plans to eat it. I discovered wd50 via my daily must-read, Grub Street, the food blog of New York magazine. It frequently sings wd50’s praises, and reveres its head chef and owner, Wylie Dufresne (pictured here with yours truly), as one of the chief architects of the city’s new wave of fine dining. After reading so much about it, I decided it was the equivalent of Tetsuya’s, in Sydney, and that while in New York, I absolutely must go. So I did – twice.

The first, on a sweaty Wednesday evening, was nothing short of incredible. Yes, there was a forty-five minute wait for our (reserved) table, but apologies were made and champagne was proffered to tide us over. When we were seated, the menu wasn’t explained properly, unfortunately. There is a tasting menu (US$140 per person, and everybody at the table must participate) and an a la carte option. We had only seen the a la carte menu, and so we chose from it. While it would have been nice to hear about both options, Caliban and I were blown away by our a la carte choices. Jeffrey, our inimitably wonderful sommelier, chose wines to match our dishes – a conceit I truly appreciate, since I’m rubbish at doing it myself.

I ate the "hanger tartare, smoked almond, banana, hibiscus," (right, below) and Caliban ordered "sunflower seed-miso soup, brook trout, melon, shiitake, malt" (left, below) for our entrees. Since Caliban is a vegequarian, I take any opportunity I can to eat meat - good meat - when we dine out. This was definitely an example of good meat. Steak tartare should be soft, supple and room temperature. So many tartare dishes are too cold (or worse still, too hot - how does that work?) making the dish unappetising, to say the least. Hanger is a cut that's becoming more and more popular (possibly because it's relatively cheap) and while it's not very tender, it has remarkable flavour. I'm not a huge fan of meat and fruit, but the banana mousse tempered the rich steak. As for Caliban, the sunflower-seed miso soup was "amazing." Rather than broth, which is what miso normally is, it was a thick, cold soup - almost like a vichyssoise. The miso had a really robust flavour that wasn't salty at all - it tasted creamy and light.

For our mains, I chose the "duck breast, worcestershire spaetzle, parsley root, mustard greens" and Caliban ordered "Arctic char, snow pea, fried yucca, cherry-black bean." In case you're wondering (and I was), spaetzle is a type of Austro-German egg noodle. They're very small, almost like tiny gnocchi. I am a sucker for duck, and I really don't care how it's cooked or what accompanies it - but the mustard greens were a great side dish. The duck itself was the hero, of course, and it lived up to its title. Crispy skin enveloped the moist, soft, rich breast - and along with my glass of Zinfandel, it was just about heaven on a plate. I didn't try the Arctic char (which is a type of fish related to salmon and trout) but Caliban assured me (through gulpfuls of cold sake) that it, too, was heavenly. Ah, the gluttony.


Finally, we moved into dessert. To segue the movement, we were given an amuse bouche of "vanilla icecream, raspberry streusel and balsamic vinegar." Anyone who's tasted raspberry vinaigrette knows how well raspberry and vinegar go together. It was basically a round of icecream covered in raspberry powder (which had an unbelievably potent flavour - all sweetness and no light) with a burst of balsamic vinegar inside. Have I mentioned heaven yet? For dessert, I had the "soft chocolate" plate (far left), which was a mix of soft mint chocolates, peppermint icecream, black cardamom dusting and toffee. Caliban chose the caramelised brioche with apricot, buttercream and lemon thyme (above, left). To be honest, I didn't think this dish held up so well against the others - the brioche was too heavy, it didn't pack enough flavour. That said, the buttercream was delightful.

After dinner, we were given the best petit fours I've ever tasted (see below). Served on a bed of granite, we were each given a "cocoa packet" and a "chocolate ball." The cocoa packet was such a feat of gastronomy - it looked like a little leather parcel, and when you bit through it, the outer layer (the "leather") was chewy and unctuous, but inside was a burst of cocoa powder. It's great when a chef surprises you. The chocolate ball was a ball of icecream covered entirely with ground dark chocolate. According to head chef Wylie, it's a play on an American cinema candy bar treat. I thought it was delightful (and far better than anything you can find inside a cinema - movies included).


Would I recommend wd50? Of course...because we went back again, four nights later, on our last night in New York. Post to come.

wd50
50 Clinton St, New York
212-4772900
www.wd-50.com