40 Blocks for A Cupcake??

Yes, I trekked 40+ blocks for 4 cupcakes to exact. Recently on a business trip to NYC one of the places that was a MUST eat while I was there was the famous Magnolia Bakery. Every cupcake guru has heard of this mecca for cupcake foodies. If we had actually mapped out each location, planned our route through the city accordingly our feet would be thanking us right now, but I think we got the true NYC experience hoofing it as much as we did. I got 1 Red Velvet, 1 Japan Relief  (Chocolate cupcake with 1 red raspberry in the middle of Vanilla frosting), 1 Vanilla with Chocolate frosting and 1 Chocolate with Vanilla frosting. I bought all those different kinds, but only ended up eating about 1 and half because I realized that my throat was starting to swell and my eyes got super itchy and scratchy. Food allergy be damned, I had to try ONE. So what was the final verdict on the cupcakes? Were they worth the walk? Yes.

The experience was worth it, visiting the bakery was worth it (especially in Greenwich Village), seeing people in their baking element was worth it. Now the cupcakes were good, but not what I was expecting. The frosting was light, fluffy more on the whipped cream side than the buttery side like I am used to. The cake in the cupcake was dry, but reading over the Magnolia Bakery pamphlet they explicitly state that the goodies they make are to be consumed as soon as they come out of the oven - so to be fair the cupcakes I got could have been siting in the window for a few hours. I got lots of inspiration from the bakery. I was lucky enough to have walked in while they were in the process of frosting a batch of cupcakes and picked up a new frosting technique. I loved the vintage aprons they were selling right there in the store and I'm seriously considering picking up sewing again just so I can make one of my own. I wish I could have eaten more of the cupcakes I purchased to get a good solid take on them all, but I wasn't gonna push it. Another bonus for the bakery - they were open until 11:30 p.m.! Awesome for late night munchies.

I had time last night to whip up a new batch of Vegan cupcakes that I could devour without worry. I tried out the Strawberry Tallcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World by Isa Chandra Moskowitz & Terry Hope Romero. These amazing cupcakes feature the Golden Vanilla Cupcake recipe, Vanilla Butter Cream frosting and my own take on their strawberry toping. I sliced up 1 1/2 cups of strawberries, and mixed them with a few spoonfuls of strawberry preserves. The topping came out a little runny, so next time I won't prep it before I make the cupcakes. Still these cupcakes were de-lish! These are perfect for the spring/summer limbo we're in right now.