‘Sex and the City’: Magnolia Bakery Just Revealed Carrie’s Cupcake Recipe
HBO‘s classic show Sex and the City has stood the test of time, and remains a highlight of its four stars’ careers. The series also launched the famed New York City sweet shop Magnolia Bakery to stardom. Magnolia Bakery has become a NYC tourist attraction, often with many rotating specialty cupcakes and pastries.
In 2007, after SATC went off the air, Magnolia created a special cupcake with pink frosting in honor of Carrie Bradshaw. The vanilla cupcake with pink pastel vanilla buttercream is the same one Sarah Jessica Parker’s character eats in the episode “No Ifs, Ands, or Butts.”
The beloved bakery just revealed the recipe for the yummy confection to Insider. It’s a two-part process, but worth all the work in the end.
Magnolia Bakery’s ‘Carrie Cupcakes’ require 2 sets of ingredients
To make the cupcake, you’ll need:
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup of whole milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 4 egg whites
The signature touch of the Carrie Cupcake is the pink buttercream on top. To make the frosting, you’ll need:
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)
- 3-4 tablespoons whole milk
- Gel food coloring (pink)
Making the cupcakes is a 2-part process
How to make the Carrie Cupcake
Before you start making the Carrie Cupcakes, preheat your oven to 325ºF and line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.
Once you’ve done that, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set it aside. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together your milk and sour cream until no lumps remain.
Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, which should take around three to five minutes. Scrape the sides, the bottom of the bowl, and the paddle.
Turn your mixer to medium speed and slowly add the egg whites a little at a time, making sure they’re incorporated before adding more. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides, bottom of the bowl, and paddle again. Then turn your mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the milk mixture and beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix everything for about 15 seconds, just until it’s incorporated.
Stop the mixer and remove the bowl. Scrape down the bowl and the paddle. Scoop the batter into your prepared muffin cups and bake for 20-22 minutes, until the tops spring back when touched and a inserted inserted into the centers comes out clean.
And now for the frosting!
To make the frosting, start by creaming the butter on medium speed in the mixer with the paddle attachment for three to four minutes, until it’s light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix for one more minute, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl again. When you’ve added the third cup of sugar, the mixture should start to thicken and appear dry. Add three tablespoons of the milk, then add the rest of the sugar. You want the consistency to be creamy and smooth; if the buttercream is too stiff, add more milk to the mixture. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl again.
Continue to beat the icing on low speed for one to two minutes longer, until it’s smooth and creamy. Do NOT mix on medium or high; it’ll add too much air and be too fluffy. Add a few drops of your desired food coloring one drop at a time and mix thoroughly to get the right color.
Use an icing wand to spread your buttercream over the cupcakes until they’re fully covered. You can store any extra icing at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days. It’s so sweet, it’ll be hard to resist not eating it by the spoonful!
