NYC's Famous Magnolia's Vanilla-Vanilla Cupcakes (REDUCED FAT) & A Tribute to Sex and the City (Part 3)... 312 Calories!

Here is Part 1 of my story!
Here is Part 2 of my story!

SEX AND THE CITY IS THE EPITOMY OF FRIENDSHIPS AND FEMALE BONDING!

The power of female bonding is unbreakable and it will take a lot for any man to get in the way of that relationship. Three years ago another best friend of mine, Anu, moved to London for love. As painful as it was, I had to let her go, after all what can stand in the way of love, right? Season 6 will always remain close to my heart because it hit very close to home. There is a scene in season 6 when Carrie begins thinking about moving to Paris for love and actually makes the move. She has dinner with her friends before leaving for Paris and says, “Today I had a thought. What if I... what if I had never met you?” I feel the water works coming every time I hear that line! Moving along, once in Paris, Carrie finds herself wandering the streets of the beautiful city, alone. One of the most touching scenes is when she passes by a café and sees four friends hanging out. She stops to reminisce about her own friendships. This scene has no words, yet silence speaks a thousand words. I think of Anu each time I watch this scene because as much as I miss hanging out with her and miss our tea and dessert moments, I could only imagine how she must have felt when she first moved to London not having anyone to turn to. I don’t believe any man can replace that void no matter how much you love him, women are just built differently… full of feelings, words, and emotions.

Carrie: “After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away.”

Because of Sex and the City, more and more women are now maintaining their friendships and have stronger female bonds than ever. As they say in Sex and the City 2, “We made a deal ages ago. Men, babies, it doesn’t matter. We’re soulmates.” I totally believe SATC has revolutionized the way society looks at women in the United States… there is definitely less judgment on how a woman should look, act, and behave, gender roles are nonexistent, the show drives women to be career-oriented, confident and independent, the show portrays the power of female bonding and places a heavy value on friendships.  And lastly the show has made it okay to be single and fabulous in your 30s… embrace it and live it up!

While I have found and married my guy, in the meantime we can all hope and believe there is someone out there for the rest of us who is also “looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love” to complete each one of us!

And now the Magnolia cupcakes that were made famous because of Sex and the City.  There is a scene in Season 3 where Carrie and Miranda sit in front of Magnolia eating these deliciously divine cupcakes.  Now although my blog promotes healthy cooking and baking, I did trim down the fat in this recipe, but there is only so much I can do, it is a rich and buttery cupcake after all.  And if I may say so myself, I thought my version was better than the real thing!  I know too much self-flattery.  These cupcakes are truly amazing!

NOW GET OUT THERE, HEAD TO MAGNOLIA, WATCH THE MOVIE, AND HAVE SOME COSMOPOLITANS WITH YOUR GIRLFRIENDS!!!

 
MODIFICATIONS I MADE:

• I didn't have Self Rising Flour, so I substituted All Purpose Flour, Baking Powder, and Salt.  Measurements below.
• I halved the recipe which calls for 1 stick of butter (or 8 tablespoons).  I used 5 tablespoons instead saving 33 grams of fat.
• By decreasing the butter, I added a ¼ cup of low fat yogurt, yes yogurt, you can't taste it at all.
• I used 1% milk instead of Whole Milk.  You can use 2%, but 1% worked really well.
• For the frosting, I used half the recipe which also calls for 1 stick of butter.  I used 6 tablespoons instead.  Measurements below.
• In the future, I want to add Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and trim down the fat by 1 more tablespoon of butter.

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 12 cupcakes)
Calories: 312 cals
Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 6.7 g
Carbs: 51 g
Protein: 3 g
Fiber: 0 g

* The original has 390 calories and 19 grams of fat per cupcake.

MAGNOLIA CUPCAKES VANILLA-VANILLA (REDUCED FAT) (adapted by The Magnolia Bakery)
~ yields 12 cupcakes @ 350 degrees
~ fat reduced by 43%; calories reduced by 20%

INGREDIENTS:  (halved the recipe)

• All Purpose Flour - 1 ¼ & ⅛ cups
• Baking Powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - ⅛ tsp
• Unsalted Butter - 5 tablespoon (room temperature)
• Eggs - 2 (room temperature)
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Milk 1% - ½ cup (room temperature)
• Low Fat Yogurt - ¼ cup (room temperature)
• Vanilla - ½ tsp

DIRECTIONS:

2. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners.
3. In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, salt.
4. In a big bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. 
5. Add eggs one at a time.  Blend.
6. Add dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating between the milk, yogurt, and vanilla.  TIP: Start with the dry and end with the dry.  DO NOT OVERMIX!

7. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, I just use an ice cream scoop.
8. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  I baked these cupcakes for 23 minutes exactly. 
9. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:
~ less than half the recipe
~ frosts 12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

• Unsalted Butter - 6 tbsp
• Confectioners Sugar - 2 ⅓ cups (start with 2 cups, add more as needed)
• Milk 1% - 3 tablespoon (start with 2 tbsp, add more as needed)
• Vanilla - 1 tsp
• Red Food Color - 3 drops

1. Start with butter and 2 cups of confectioners sugar.  Mix. 2. Add 2 tablespoon of milk and slowly add more as needed. 3. Add vanilla.  Blend.  4. OPTIONAL: Add more confectioners sugar as needed.  Based on the proportion, do not exceed 2 ⅔ cups of confectioners sugar.

5. Add food color.  Mix. 
6. Allow the frosting to thicken up before you frost the cupcakes, this may require you to refrigerate for frosting for about 10-15 minutes.

FROSTING RATING: 5 / 5
The frosting at Magnolia Bakery is way too sweet for me, but I still love it because their cupcakes are so good and pretty.  For my frosting, I used a proportion based on 6 tablespoons of butter.  The buttercream frosted 12 cupcakes nicely, with very little leftover.  I loved the frosting, it was not too sweet and just right.

OVERALL RATING:  5 / 5

My hubby took the first bite into this cupcake. I'm a pretty tough critic when it comes to baking, I always seem to find something wrong with whatever I bake, but not this time.  I can honestly say these cupcakes were awesome.  They tasted like the real thing, just not as sweet.  Considering these cupcakes are reduced fat by 43%, I am really happy with the results.  The best part is you can't even tell they are reduced fat.
Texture: The texture of these cupcakes was great... spongy and crumbly.
Moistness: These cupcakes are very moist.  There is enough butter in these, you will not be able to tell it is somewhat reduced fat.