Magnolia Bakery Caramel Cupcake

Caramel Cupcake from Magnolia Bakery, $3.00, http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/)

Taste: The frosting is super light and super fluffy-- I think it's meringue, it's definitely not a buttercream-- Upon a second taste, it's definitely meringue, light and whipped and sweet with that distinct sugar-and-egg-white meringue sweetness. There is also a soft caramel flavor to the meringue frosting, which is further enhanced by the drizzles of caramel across the top of the cupcake. The cake tastes to me like standard vanilla cake, not too strong in flavor and not too sweet, but tasted together with the frosting and caramel topping this is a lightly sweet caramel treat-- not ultra-sugary or ultra-sweet, very subtle. Overall Taste Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Sprinkles

Texture: The meringue frosting is ultra light and whipped so its perfectly smooth. The caramel drizzled across the top is soft and sticky. The cake itself is dense and a little dry, especially around the edges, which are crispy. The top of the cupcake is crispy too-- the crispy edges and top actually have a distinct flavor that reminds me of a Nabisco Nilla wafer, and I like it. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: The cupcake is cute, and I like how the icing was applied high around the edges but lower in the center, like a sort of frosting bowl in which the caramel could puddle-- but be assured that all that caramel drizzle was as sticky as it looks! The caramel zigzags are attractive though, and everything is neatly applied and pretty to look at even if messy to eat. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Satisfaction: Definitely the best full-size cupcake I've had yet from Magnolia, so I was pleasantly surprised, since in the past I've been disappointed. It wasn't putting me into the "cupcake heaven" I've spoken of when reviewing other cupcakes, but it was a pleasant treat, and I was glad to have tried an interesting new flavor like caramel, so I was left feeling pretty satisfied. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 3.5 out of 5 sprinkles

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 15 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Magnolia: Miniature Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Miniature Vanilla Frosting on Vanilla Cake Cupcake from Magnolia

Magnolia Bakery was giving away miniature cupcakes today in Rockefeller Center, and I happened to walk by just at the right time! I didn't have my digital camera with me at the time, so I snapped cell phone pictures of it prior to consumption (sorry about the poor quality!). My teensy treat was free, but I was told you can purchase the minis at Magnolia (http://www.magnoliacupcakes.com/) at a dozen for $20. (Either oddly or adorably, I can't decide which, the dozen mini-cupcakes for $20 are sold in a cardboard egg-carton. Assuming they're re-using egg cartons from the eggs used to make the cupcakes, which is what it looked like, I suppose it is an eco-friendly way to recycle them).

Taste: Is it just me, or do all things taste better miniature? The vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting mini-cupcake was just far more delicious in its miniature form than in the full-size version! Although the icing was still too sweet while the cake was not sweet enough, in bite-size form perhaps I didn't have enough time to critique the problems with the cupcake's taste before it was all gone! When I was eating the full size version of the same, I discussed how I felt sick after a few bites and had no desire to eat any more, but perhaps the mini-size is the answer for me, because the two-bite cupcake tasted a lot better! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Texture: You might call me crazy, but the cake in the mini-Magnolia was moister than the standard-size Magnolia cake. Really! And the icing was smooth and thick. Overall Texture Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Aesthetic: Okay, I might be biased in favor of all things miniature, but this cupcake was just ADORABLE. Mini-cupcake just delighted me! It looked much like a Magnolia big cupcake that only scores a 3 sprinkles for aesthetics, yet scaled down in a mini-me version, it was extra cute! It earns an extra point for miniature-ness! Overall Aesthetic Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles!

Satisfaction: So on the one hand, a miniatue cupcake is gone in two bites and doesn't fully satisfy the way a regular-size cupcake can. But on the other hand, a miniature cupcake is sometimes JUST the thing you need to satisfy that desire for delicious cupcakeness without expanding your waistline and overeating goodies. And something about miniature things is extra satisfying because they're just so cute. I was absolutely delighted to learn that such miniature cupcakes from Magnolia existed, and I swear I had a smile on my face for hours after that happenstance discovery and my free mini-cupcake consumption. I truly did feel satisfied even though it was so tiny! Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles!

Overall Cupcake Ranking: 16 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake

Magnolia Bakery Chocolate Frosting on Vanilla Cake, magnoliabakery.com, $2.50 each

Taste: The chocolate frosting was very tasty-- sweet but the sweetness was tempered by the cocoa powder for a pleasant overall flavor, although savoring the frosting in my mouth I could distinctly taste the components that made up the icing: butter, confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder. But the vanilla cake was disappointing-- dry, flavorless, not sweet at all. Luckily, eaten together, the chocolate frosting taste was overpowering, and therefore quite tasty! Overall Taste Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles
Texture: The chocolate frosting's texture was excellent-- smooth, creamy, not too dense, light and soft. The cake texture unfortunately was dry and crumbly and really ruined things. Overall Texture Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles
Aesthetic: Although the cupcakes have that cute homemade look that makes everyone nostalgic about childhood cupcake-eating, the execution on this cupcake was sloppy-- the cake was lopided and the icing wasn't applied particularly evenly. The chocolate frosting did have a nice, rich chocolate color that I appreciated, and from an aerial view the frosting was beautifully swirled. Overall Aesthetic Rating: 3 out of 5 sprinkles
Satisfaction: Overall, the yumminess of the chocolate frosting is what saved this cupcake and led to my decent satisfaction with it, although the cake part was borderline inedible. Overall Satisfaction Rating: 4 out of 5 sprinkles

Cupcake Ranking: 14 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)

Cupcake Packaging

Above, Buttercup Bake Shop's box of cupcakes













Above, Crumbs Bake Shop's box of cupcakes













Above, Magnolia Bakery's box of cupcakes













Above, Crumbs Bake Shop's shopping bag

















Above, Buttercup Bake Shop's Shopping Bag
















Above, Magnolia Bakery's Shopping Bag


So the hand's down packaging award between these three prominent New York cupcakeries hands down goes to Crumbs! I think the pictures speak for themselves, but Crumbs has by far the best shopping bag, and also the most aesthetically pleasing and functional cupcake boxes!

Magnolia Bakery: Vanilla on Vanilla

I'm beginning my cupcake rankings with the classic Vanilla Cake on Vanilla Buttercream combination. The above cupcake is from Magnolia Bakery (magnoliabakery.com, $2.50 each), and their vanilla buttercream comes in a variety of colors. Classic white was not available, so I chose pink from amongst the vanilla frosting options, which also included blue and green.
Taste: The icing is very, very sweet and very, very buttery-- a bit cloying. The first taste of the icing was sweet and pleasant, but after a few more tastes I felt like I was eating Confectioner's Sugar straight from the box atop a stick of butter. While the icing was too sweet, the cake was not sweet enough, and even together they did not strike the right balance. The cake had not enough sugar and perhaps a touch too much baking soda. The unpleasantness of the cake was balanced somewhat when eating the cake and icing together, because together the icing was almost all I could taste. However, I experienced a slightly unpleasant aftertaste. After a few bites I had had more than enough and had no desire to finish it. Overall taste rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles.
Texture: The texture of the icing was pleasant-- soft and dense, but melted on my tongue. But, the cake texture was awful-- dry, crumbly, no moisture at all. Overall texture rating: 2 out of 5 sprinkles.
Aesthetic: The cupcake definitely looked better than it tasted-- tiny, cute, with a "classic homemade" aesthetic, light golden color, even height, and good cake-to-frosting ratio. The frosting was applied in a pretty swirl, and a smattering of rainbow sprinkles across the top added charm. However, the pink color on vanilla icing is in my opinion misleading, as in baked goods color often connotes flavor, and adding color dye to the icing might account for the slight aftertaste I experienced. Overall aesthetic ranking: 3 out of 5 sprinkles.
Satisfaction: Overall, I was unsatisfied with the cupcake, and have no desire to eat a vanilla on vanilla cupcake from Magnolia again. I was very glad I had more cupcakes available since this one was so unsatisfying! Overall satisfaction ranking: 1 out of 5 sprinkles.

Cupcake Ranking: 8 Sprinkles (out of 20 possible)