On a recent spring day, despite a slight chill in the air, eager Bostonians lined up at 10 a.m. for cupcakes and Boston cream pie-flavored banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery’s new location in Quincy Market at Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Bobbie Lloyd, the “Chief Baking Officer” of this New York-based phenomenon made TV-famous through cameos in “Sex and the City” was on site for the opening day.    

“I feel really nostalgic this week,” she said, recalling her time as a student in Boston at French chef Madeleine Kamman’s Modern Gourmet cooking school. Lloyd’s culinary journey began even before that. “I told my mom that I wanted to cook when I was 8 years old. She signed me up at the YWCA in a 12-week course on international cooking…and I was hooked!” After mastering skills as a chef and baker, Lloyd’s career has been sprinkled with culinary highlights. At one point, she was the personal chef to designer Calvin Klein. Yet Lloyd remains most proud of how her current role at Magnolia Bakery has opened career opportunities for her staff. “My single biggest accomplishment is developing other people. We could not grow this company without growing people in the company, many of whom are young women.”

Lloyd is also proud of the new Boston location at Quincy Market. “Seeing this iconic building with our brand in it feels so right. It fits Magnolia’s vintage look and feel…as well as that role we are trying to fill—the concept of a ’50s or ’60s-era neighborhood bakery which supports its community alongside other retail and entertainment businesses.” Indeed, much like the hustle and bustle of the marketplace, a visit to Magnolia Baking is a form of entertainment in itself. At the glass counter, patrons enjoy watching cupcakes being iced and cakes decorated. Waiting in line to order is anything but boring, and you’ll need time to decide between Magnolia’s famous banana pudding, or one of the brownies that Lloyd calls “spectacular. When those come out of the oven, the whole place smells like chocolate.”

“We work very hard in this industry, and it’s really important that you are patient to take the time to learn from other people,” Lloyd says as she surveys the busy kitchen. “Yet it can be great fun every day. We get to make cupcakes, you know? What a reward!”

Magnolia Bakery 

200–299 Faneuil Hall Marketplace, 617-904-1100, magnoliabakery.com