Magnolia Bakery NYC Cupcakes- Why don't mine taste the same?

So, I found the recipe for Magnolia Bakery's famous cupcakes and have made them several times. The recipe (found online) comes from the MB cookbook, but nothing tastes the same.


Can anyone tell me why?

Magnolia Bakery NYC Cupcakes- Why don't mine taste the same?
Baking is a science first and foremost. If you're replacing butter with margarine or using eggbeaters instead of eggs then they won't taste the same. Heck, your water may even taste different!





Bakeries buy the best ingredients from the best purveryors [at least the successful ones do]. You may be surprised to learn the quality of butter at the bakery is superior to the butter you can get at your local market.





Bakery ovens are regulated. Your oven may be hotter or colder than you think.





Bakery recipes make dozens upon dozens of muffins. If the recipe is really from the bakery the quantities were scaled down for the home cook. This will affect taste and quality.





Bakeries aren't likely to give up their TRUE recipe, instead they may come up with something similar for a book to appease their customers, but they're not likely to give away their secrets.
Reply:because the whole point is to go there and wait in line around the corner and crowd in there and pick out the cutest ones then stand outside and pretend you're carrie bradshaw while you eat them.


plus they put SO much icing on. maybe you need more.
Reply:Because they aren't the same.





Food always tastes better when someone else makes it.
Reply:It might be the water you use is not a tasty as teh kind in grenich village.
Reply:There are a couple of reasons:





1) Ingredient quality. As a successful commercial bakery, the MB has access to affordable ingredients that have a higher quality than what you would buy at the grocery store. Some examples: real Mexican vanilla as opposed to the vanilla extract you find at your local Kroger (which can claim to be 'pure', but usually contains glycerin or corn syrup); higher-grade flour; higher-quality butter.





2) It's not the exact same recipe. Quantities are not necessarily relative when you're scaling down a recipe from, say, one that makes eight dozen cupcakes to one that only makes 2 dozen. It's not always as simple as cutting all your ingredient amounts down by 3/4. Also, since some aspects of the recipe are proprietary, some 'special' ingredients may have been omitted. These ingredients wouldn't affect the overall finished product, but they might have a small impact on taste and texture. A lot of bakeries will do this because they don't want to give their business rivals a chance to take advantage of their own hard work.





Hope this helps!
Reply:There could be many reasons but one MAJOR reason I would highly suspect is that the bakery doesn't want to give out their special secret recipe. That's what keeps paying customers coming back for more.





I would try using the highest quality and freshest ingredients. ie : Are you sweetcream butter or margarine? Pure vanilla extract or imitation vanilla flavoring? Cake flour or all purpose? Chocolate with high or low cocao percentage?





If that doesn't change anything my next step would be experiment with the quantity of ingredients-be very, very careful. Baking is almost a science. Toying with leaveners such as baking powder, baking soda, flour, egg will leave you with varied cake textures, sunken cakes, ect. I would only suggest you do this if you're an experienced baker.





Is there something missing? Compare the two cupcakes side by side and smell and taste each. Try to single out the key ingredient. Is there a hint of almond extract? Lemon zest? A hint of cayenne in the chocolate? Brown sugar? Pumpkin pie spice? Apple sauce? Cinnamon?





Is their cupcake more moist? Incorporating buttermilk, sourcream, and/or butter are known to give cakes a moist and tender texture. It's also good to remember: ovens are different. Over baking will cause a tougher and drier texture. Underbaking- not good either because you get a rather soggy cake.





Best of luck and keep trying! :)
Reply:Because there are so many variables. Different ovens, different types of butter, flour, different mixers but most importantly different people.