The Magnolia Bakery cupcake made famous by Sex and the City is named the Carrie. The pink-frosted vanilla cupcake appeared in a July 2000 episode, a seismic moment that still reverberates.
Magnolia is currently observing its 25th birthday and part of the celebration involved Carrie Dragshaw, a.k.a. Dan Clay. The renowned impersonator took pictures with pink cupcakes and show fans on a bench outside the bakery. Guests could even wear a redheaded wig to play the Miranda character who spoke with Carrie in the catalytic scene.
Elsewhere on the bakery menu, the banana pudding is proving enduring popular. Indeed, in the 20 minutes I observed the Dragshaw appearance, no one was photographed with a cupcake, but several posed with banana pudding. That said, here is one fan picture with cupcakes.
As Magnolia marks its birthday, the Sex and the City sequel is filming in New York. This begs the question, which cupcakes would appeal to 50something Carrie and friends? I conclude Carrie’s 2021 cake is this Earl Grey limon mini bundt cake from City Cakes. Like a friend with benefits, it has the plus of supporting the bakery’s charitable donations.
Real-life Sarah Jessica Parker recently dined at Cafe Riazor, a Spanish restaurant a few blocks from City Cakes. It would have been easy to pick up dessert. Within hundreds of comments about Parker’s restaurant post, someone asks her about cupcakes. Instead of naming a cupcake shop, she says her daughters make the best cupcakes. In a wide-ranging discussion about restaurants, cupcakes mattered to the commenter enough to seek a recommendation. They are on the radar.
Finely tailored Sprinkles Cupcakes would also resonate with the women of And Just Like That, as the sequel is titled.
What’s more, Sprinkles appeals to chic canines who are treated to pupcakes. The Charlotte character was filmed with a bulldog, who may wish to bark their pupcake order to their agent.
The dogs could meet at Sprinkles for a pupcakes playdate. In Manhattan, the Sprinkles at Brookfield Place is a properly fashionable setting.
Maybe Pepper and Prancer Bushnell would also like to know about pupcakes. Their mother, Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell, is performing a one-woman show at Bucks County Playhouse in Pennsylvania. The show is based on her 2019 book Is There Still Sex in the City? While cupcakes don’t have a role in the show, Pepper and Prancer make a cameo appearance on stage.
About halfway through an Instagram story, Bushnell films Pepper and suggests a hunt for cupcakes.
Back to the cinematic, the Mr. Big character is returning to And Just Like That. Meanwhile in big business, a big-league investor has purchased Magnolia Bakery.
The new owner, RSE Ventures, obviously bought the company to grow it. It’s 2021 and capitalists are bullish on cupcakes. There is much to unwrap here.
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 