The Charisma of Cupcakes

The birthday, once considered an annual occasion, is gaining
popularity. I myself have had at least 12 this year alone.

I’m referring to the increasingly familiar understanding
of the birthday less as a formal event than a general state of
mind. The Beatles pioneered the idea back in 1968 when they
chanted, “You say it’s your birthday. It’s my
birthday too—yeah!” (If one considers the rumor that
Paul McCartney owns the publishing rights to the original
“Happy Birthday” song, these lines assume a slightly
different significance.)

The present birthday fixation is best encapsulated by 50
Cent’s “In Da Club.” With the lines, “Go
shorty, it’s your birthday / We gonna party like it’s
your birthday,” he showed us that it doesn’t have to be
your birthday in order to shelve your inhibitions, indulge your
inner hedonist, and hog the spotlight.

Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torey understand. They joined together
in 1996 to found the Magnolia Bakery, 401 Bleecker Street (at 11th
Street). From humble beginnings (the partners originally shared the
space with a bird shop), they developed a buttercream-frosted
cupcake that quickly earned them a place in the heart of the West
Village. The decidedly retro bakery now sells about 3,000 cupcakes
(at $1.75 each) a day, has been featured on an episode of Sex in
the City, and invariably attracts a line of customers that wraps
around the corner. Appel and Torey stumbled onto a product whose
appeal extends beyond the simple pleasure-inducing effects of sugar
and sponge. To eat a cupcake is as much an indulgence of our
nostalgia as of our taste buds. They return us to the classrooms of
our childhood, where the fiercely egalitarian ethic of the public
school defended every student’s right to a cupcake. The line
outside Magnolia’s can even be seen as a simulation of the
eager waiting period that stands between every student and his
proper birthday.

Since the Magnolia craze, it seems that Manhattan has been
overtaken by cupcake vendors. It’s only natural in a city of
people who like to have their cake and eat it too.

The Cupcake Café, 522 Ninth Ave. (at 39th St.), has been
a Hell’s Kitchen mainstay since 1988, though only recently
have their cupcakes overtaken their cakes in demand. They
specialize in intricately adorned designer cupcakes that have been
known to attract the likes of Calvin Klein and Donna Karan. At
$2.50 for a small cupcake, they are indeed an indulgence.

Appel left Magnolia in 1999 to found the Buttercup Bake Shop,
973 Second Ave. (between 51st and 52nd). Like Magnolia, the
cupcakes are $1.75 a pop, but don’t expect the self-service
station at this uptown, upscale incarnation.

Crumbs, 321 Amsterdam (at 75th St.), has cornered the market in
ample, muffin-proportioned cupcakes—a well-deserved $2.95.
They are expanding throughout upper Manhattan, and are now offered
at Crema Lita, 2873 Broadway (at 112th St.).

Though cupcake preference is truly a matter of personal taste, I
believe the city’s best cupcakes to be at the nine-month-old
Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery, 196 E. Rivington (between Essex and
Norfolk). Owners Peggy Williams, a former Magnolia employee, and
Debbie Weiner devoted nine months to the crafting of their
delicious cakes, whose moist bottom portion and stiff, generous
frosting overshadow the cross-town competition. Alas, they will not
divulge the recipes.

The “Sunshine Cupcake,” a vanilla-vanilla version
topped in pastels, is the top seller, though the pistachio and
cream cheese-topped carrot cupcakes are stiff competitors.
I’m partial to the lemon cupcake, which packs a zesty
punch.

The experience of the Sunshine cupcake is amplified by the funky
’60s decor, complete with a framed Jackie O photograph behind
the cash register, and the good vibes projected by the management.
“We set out to create something that really made people
happy, comfortable, and warm,” said Weiner. “So many
people, they order their cupcake and giggle.”

Of course, ingesting the cupcake is only half the fun. Here are
some recipes so that you can make your own. Each recipe yields 10
cupcakes, so invite your friends over, get a copy of
Cracker’s debut album, and join on the refrain, “Happy,
happy birthday to me! / Happy birthday to me, and to
you.”

Magnolia’s Birthday Cupcakes

1⁄2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup self-rising cake and pastry flour

1⁄2 cup + 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1⁄2 cup 2 percent milk

1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 cups in muffin tin with
paper liners. In a large bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer.
Add sugar. Beat at medium speed until fluffy (about three minutes).
Add eggs one at a time, beating well. In a medium bowl, combine
flours. In a cup, combine milk and vanilla. Alternately add flour
and milk to butter, beating well after each addition. Spoon batter
to fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake until tops spring back
when lightly touched (20 to 22 minutes). Cool on rack for five to
10 minutes.

Buttercream Frosting

1⁄2 cup butter, at room temperature

4 to 5 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

food coloring

In a medium bowl, blend butter and two cups icing sugar with an
electric mixer. Add milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy.
Mix in two to three more cups icing sugar, one cup at a time. Blend
for five minutes. Add food coloring.

For citrus frosting, add 1/4 to 1⁄2 tsp. citrus oil or the
zest of a lemon or lime to the mixture. For chocolate frosting,
melt 2 to 4 oz. unsweetened chocolate in a double-boiler or
microwave (be careful not to burn it), and beat into the
mixture.

Recipe is adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, by
Jennifer Appel and Allysa Torrey