Remember the cupcake fad that lasted for years? It seemed like everyone was talking about where the best cupcakes could be found and what the craziest flavors were. Cupcake boutiques popped up in every major city serving nontraditional flavor combinations like maple bacon and cinnamon roll. There were even TV shows dedicated solely to cupcakes, like Cupcake Wars and DC Cupcakes.
Eventually cupcakes fell to the wayside and frozen yogurt, commonly known as “froyo,” had its heyday. While frozen yogurt had been popular for years in major cities like Los Angeles and New York City, in 2012 frozen yogurt shops opened on every street corner in America.
Chains like Gigi’s Cupcakes and Yogurt Mountain allow for these dessert trends to be enjoyed in Tuscaloosa years after they reached their peak in popularity. Tuscaloosa may be catching up to the world of dessert trends with its relatively quick pickup of the gourmet popsicle trend. University Boulveard saw the opening of the Birmingham-based Steel City Pops last year. Especially popular in the South where any relief from the heat is welcome, these gourmet pops boast all-natural ingredients, and are very different from the popsicles of childhood.
Coming up on the horizon is the wonderful trend of gourmet donuts. Not your typical Krispy Kreme glazed, these donuts are large enough to require utensils to eat them and have experimental flavors like olive oil and chicken and waffle. This trend has already made its way to Southern cities nearby like Atlanta (Revolution Doughnuts) and New Orleans (Blue Dot and District Donuts).
They boast atmospheres comparable to everyone’s favorite local coffee shops where people lazily spend their mornings – only with gourmet donuts rather than hot cups of coffee. Keep your eyes open, because these donuts may soon make an appearance on menus in Tuscaloosa. However, if the trend never makes its way down to us, we can only hope Dunkin’ Donuts and Krispy Kreme can fill the void.
