Magnolia Bakery: LA (updated on 8/16)

The article I read to find out about the new location opening had said that Magnolia Bakery was going to be opening on 3rd St. in Santa Monica but it actually opened at the Beverly Center. I have changed this post on 8/16/2010 to reflect the truth. Sorry for the intial mistake!)

I just found out from a friend that a Magnolia Bakery has opened up at the Beverly Center in LA. How exciting! If you didn't already know, the original is in NYC. (There are several locations throughout NYC now also) Magnolia cupcakes are pretty much the starters of the cupcake craze. They are also known for their old fashion desserts. I haven't been to the NYC location, but you betcha I will next time I'm there. I can't wait to check out the new location in Los Angeles!

Banana Foster

I suppose banana fosters are considered to be a fancy dessert. Maybe because of the fact that you can flambé it. I'm not too sure if the procedure of flambéing does anything to the flavor of dish. It might be just purely for visual effects. 

Anywho, it is one of the simpliest desserts to make. I used Alton Brown's recipe (Bourbon Banana Foster) when I made it.


I made the following changes...
bourbon --> rum (that's what I had on hand)
under-ripe bananas --> really ripe bananas (that's what inspired me to make this dessert. I didn't want to be wasteful and throw them away.)


It came out great! The bananas and sauce were nice and caramely. My plating and presentation is not anything spectacular since it was just a normal weekday night and I just wanted to do a quick dessert for my family.  However, you can really dress it up by putting it into a martini glass and sprinkling some cinnamon or nutmeg on top and adding a garnish.

Apple and Pear Dumplings

I used to work at a restaurant that had an wonderful dessert. It was an apple dumpling served with vanilla ice cream and a caramel sauce. Yesterday, I went over to my friend Sharon's house and we decided to make a recreation of this dessert. I used a recipe for pear dumplings in a recipe book onewishfulgeek gave me. We used apples in addition to pears also. There was plenty of pastry shell left over so we made leaves to decorate the apples and pears. Initially we forgot to brush on the egg wash (to make the pretty shine on the pastry) but we took them out and added it half way through.

They turned out really nice! We served it with some Haagen Dazs Five Vanilla ice cream. (If you haven't tried this, you must! One of the best packaged ice cream out there! I love the coffee one!) The apple and pear dumplings were a lightly sweet and comforting dessert. Sharon still has my recipe book, so I will post the recipe once I get it back from her.