If Magnolia Bakery is famous for anything, it is elevating banana pudding — that homey combination of vanilla wafers, banana slices, and pudding — to an art form. The bakery, which has four locations in New York City, has also developed a reputation for its gluten-free version of the dessert.
This weekend, you can sample the pudding for the other kind of “free” — free of charge. To celebrate its 26th anniversary, on Saturday (July 10) and Sunday (July 11), the bakery will give away 500 cups of its signature pudding served in a limited edition birthday cup. Early birds who can get over to the Bleecker Street store between now and 4 p.m. can get in on a sneak preview of the sweet treat. Otherwise you can get your free pudding cup from Magnolia’s roving truck at McCarren Park in Brooklyn on Saturday, and 30th Avenue in Astoria on Sunday. To determine the truck’s exact whereabouts at any given moment, visit the bakery’s Instagram account. And while you’re there, be sure to enter for a chance to win free banana pudding for a year.