Jennifer Appel '86, '90, '93

June 2008

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Find out what Jennifer's fondest Hofstra memory is... | more |

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Jennifer Appel's professional slogan has become "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first."  She began her professional career as a clinical psychologist, having earned undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in  psychology from Hofstra University.  Now she is the owner of New York City's famous Buttercup Bake Shop - with locations on both sides of Manhattan.

Though academically oriented, she discovered that the culinary arts were also 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 decide to switch careers and make a new start in 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 welcoming ambiance.

After years of brightening up 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, including Martha Stewart, Al Roker, and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton. Jennifer has appeared on The Today Show several times, and Buttercup Bake Shop has been featured on MTV, Fox, and CNN, as well as in the romantic novel A Match Made on Madison by Dee Davis.