New SoCo Sweets: Hey Cupcake! and Big Top Candy Shop

The Hey Cupcake! trailer that used to call the campus area home is now on South Congress, in the parking lot across from Vespaio. At two bucks apiece, the palm-sized treats are made fresh and delivered to the trailer several times a day. The vanilla and chocolate cupcakes are good, but not transcendent — they're basically what you'd think of when conjuring up a basic sugary cupcake in your mind's eye, replete with day-glo icing and sprinkles. The red velvet cupcakes, however, are simply delectable. Combining sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting with crumbly, moist, and flavorful red velvet cake, these are the ones to come back for.

Down the street past Milton, you'll find the brand new Big Top Candy Shop where Kid Genius used to be. It's an old-fashioned candy and soda fountain shop owned by Monkey See, Monkey Do proprietor Brandon Hodge. You can find candies from your youth — whichever sepia-hued or high-def era that might be. The store is stocked with hard candies, truffles, pirate mints, and bacon-flavored toothpicks. You can also order ice cream sundaes, egg creams, and soda drinks. It's a paean to sugar, and appropriately decked out in vintage carnival sideshow decor.

Photos by Shannon Kreiger on Flickr. A slideshow version appears after the jump.