[bluetidepro]

I think if you wanted to stay in the same realm as cupcakes/desserts, as far as the "new bubble" goes, it would probably be "Cake Pops". Those are becoming huge now, and only getting bigger. Heck, even Starbucks now carries Cake Pops.

Here is just a general link of what Cake Pops are, if you are not familiar with them: http://www.bakerella.com/pops-bites/cake-pops/ - Basically, just a cupcake/cake on a stick that can have lots of designs around it.

[joezydeco]

I'm seeing a huge uptick in upscale donut shops. Chicago has 4 or 5 of them now.

The Doughnut Vault (http://thedoughnutvault.tumblr.com/) probably is the most well known with new arrivals like Do-Rite (http://doritedonuts.com/) and Glazed and Infused (http://www.goglazed.com/). Had to include last that one just for the awesome name.

[JonnieCache]

> Had to include last that one just for the awesome name.

There's a kebab shop in south london called "Halal! Is it meat you're looking for?"

[randomdata]

The Food Network has also been pushing donuts lately, where they were previously on the cupcake bandwagon.

[josephjrobison]

The lesson here would seem to be not to hone in too much on a product that is trend-sensitive. If you look at Starbucks, which started with good coffee, then expanded into frappuccinos, smoothies, baked goods, breakfast, cds, mugs, etc, or McDonalds which went from burgers to everything but tacos and pizza, those are clever business moves.

Crumbs can probably sell cake pops and gourmet donuts and every new trend that comes along and be fine if they play it right.

[sjg007]

Or crumbs could sell good coffee!

[danielna]

FWIW, a friend who writes for a popular online food publication says gourmet donuts are the new cupcakes.

[nchlswu]

definitely has been picking up steam lately and will explode soon enough. It's a lot closer to cupcakes as well ("baked" goods) and likely the novelty of cupcakes is easily transferred to donuts