About Buttercup Bake Shop Jennifer Appel began her professional career as a clinical psychologist. Though geared toward academics, Jennifer also had culinary arts in her blood. She fondly remembers her mother and grandmothers creating a variety of masterpieces in the family's kitchen. At the end of a long workday, Jennifer would come home and unwind by cooking, and by baking special desserts. Before long, her hobby became her passion. Intrigued by the food industry, Jennifer decided to switch careers and go full-time into the bakery business. In July 1996, she opened Magnolia Bakery in New York City's Greenwich Village, where she and her business partner sold cookies, pies, mini-cheesecakes and other delectable treats. In August 1999, Jennifer ventured out on her own to open Buttercup Bake Shop in midtown Manhattan. Since its opening, the bakery has experienced outstanding success with its line of old fashioned American desserts and inviting ambiance. After years of outstanding success in midtown Manhattan, Buttercup Bake Shop launched a second store on the Upper West Side in 2006. Buttercup's classic American desserts continue to be enjoyed by New Yorkers of all kinds, including Martha Stewart, Al Roker, and Senator Hilary Clinton, amongst others. Jennifer has appeared on The Today Show several times, and Buttercup Bake Shop has been featured on MTV, Fox, CNN and more, as well as in the romantic novel A Match Made on Madison by Dee Davis ( See more press about Buttercup Bake Shop ).