Magnolia Bakery will stay at the Gran Hotel Inglés
The seventh and most transgressive edition of pop up Seagram's New York Hotel has chosen as the stage Great English Hotel -which in its day was the **first luxury hotel in Madrid** -, located in the neighborhood of the letters and relaunched relatively recently under the seal of The Leading Hotels of the World.
What does this initiative of the renowned company of american gin ? Well, nothing more and nothing less than making us enjoy the pure new york lifestyle in the heart of Spain from March 22 to April 14.
For this, they have organized different leisure activities, such as the bingo brunch , and they have brought the most addictive pastry in the Big Apple : Magnolia Bakery .
hotel lobby
It's the first time that the famous cupcakes cross the pond to land on European lands. Housed on the ground floor of this modern hotel - where the restaurant wolf 8 -, Magnolia Bakery gives us the opportunity to savor, **Monday to Sunday (from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.)**, some of its most iconic bites.
And not only that, but this extraordinary gastronomic event has had the presence of its owners, Bobby Lloyd and Steve Abrams , with whom we have had the opportunity to speak.
“We did not choose Spain to open this store temporarily, in reality it was Spain that chose us. We came thanks to the initiative of Seagram's Gin in the Great English Hotel , who proposed us to be part of it. We thought it was a great opportunity ”, explains Steve Abrams to Traveler.es.
“Also we have come to **Spain** many times and it is always nice to come back. Who knows, maybe it's the perfect scenario to continue with our business ”, he adds.
Bobby Lloyd and Steve Abrams, owners of Magnolia Bakery, in the Madrid store
The Abrams, the family at the helm of Magnolia Bakery , have carefully expanded a business dating back to 1996 , the year in which his first store in West Village ( New York ) Opened its doors. There are currently thirty stores of Magnolia Bakery in the world.
Ten of them are in USA (six in New York, one in Boston, one in Chicago, one in Washington D.C. and one in Los Angeles) and the others are distributed in different countries: ** Jordan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Mexico, the Philippines, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates Joined.**
“ We plan to open more stores , in the short term, adding to our map I ** ndia , Turkey and Brazil .** At the moment there are none in Europe, this pop up store in Spain is the first . If it works well, we would like to make it permanent . Spain is the perfect place to open the first European Magnolia Bakery”, says Steve Abrams.
If you are a fan of the series sex in new york , you will remember the scene that launched these spectacular cupcakes to fame: Carrie Bradshaw savoring a delicious vanilla cupcake with pink frosting on the bench at the door of the pastry shop. Such was the success that a cupcake was created with her name, The Carrie.
Since then, the small delicacies of Magnolia Bakery have crept into our lives both on the small and on the big screen. Some examples are the movie The Devil Wears Prada or the series Riverdale.
Have you ever tried these 'cupcakes'? You should!
Although they have a catalog of 25 different flavors -peanut butter and jelly, carrot, coconut, truffle, caramel or apple, among others-, the vanilla cupcake with vanilla butter is the most popular, followed by chocolate and red velvet.
“In the stores we have in the United States, every day we have eight different flavors . What we can always find are **the classic cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate and red velvet)**, both in its original version and in different combinations (for example, chocolate cupcake with vanilla cream)”, Steve Abrams tells us.
In turn, they also produce other specialties that remain temporarily in the Magnolia patisseries and that vary each month. For example, the cupcake with pistachio meringue , which is available in their permanent stores from March 17 to 24 of the same month.
“During this trip, especially we are going to work with the classics: vanilla, chocolate and red velvet . If we find the right ingredients and the team isn't too overwhelmed, you'll probably be able to try some more specialties. If in the end we open permanently, then you will be able to know everything we do ”, Steve Abrams tells us.
You can accompany your 'cupcake' with a tea or a coffee
As we already know, Magnolia Bakery is famous for its cupcakes, which are sold at a price similar to that of New York, 3.5 euros . But in the stores that they have distributed throughout the rest of the world they also sell succulent cheesecakes, wonderful wedding cakes , several types of brownies, cookies of different flavors and delicious cupcakes, among other products.
"Since we're here for a short time, we're just going to make cupcakes, our banana pudding (€6) in two flavors-salted caramel and classic- , brownies (3.5 €), blondies -a variant of the traditional brownies- and lemon bars -lemon cupcakes-”, explains Steve Abrams.
If the team feels safe and comfortable enough, they will have the help of local pastry chefs to make some more products. “It is very little time and, despite the ingredients that we have brought, there are some that we have not managed to find yet. So there are also things that we would like to do but can't,” the owner of Magnolia Bakery tells us.
As for the venue, it has been decorated in a way that recreates the space of the original store, as well as being run by its own pastry chefs , who have traveled to Madrid to conquer our palates with the most iconic flavors of Magnolia.
Lastly, we wonder What is the key to the success of Magnolia Bakery? “I would say that it is impossible to create something that becomes a famous product, it just happens. But the key to our longevity is be faithful to our brand, ensure quality in everything we do and, of course, fresh ingredients ”, concludes Steve Abrams.
Sit down to eat your 'vanilla cupcake' on the set of 'Sex and the City'