Swirl, featuring build your own cupcakes, opens to long line out the door in Oakhurst

This new bakery concept is the brainchild of Ella Stone, the owner of Celestial Cakery, an award-winning wedding cake company that’s been featured in The Knot, Buzzfeed and Refinery 29.

Swirl describes itself as a “test bakery of randomly sweet ideas” and offers insta-cakes, custom cakes, wedding cakes, made-to-order cupcakes (choose from 10 frostings and 18 toppings) and “daily bite” desserts like cakey balls and cookie dough.

“I began baking as a side hustle in my 75-square-foot kitchen more than ten years ago,” said Ella Stone. “My husband and I were able to grow that business (and the kitchen size, thankfully) with more than 600 wedding cakes created over the last five years. We are so excited to continue growing by moving into a retail space, which will allow us to build deeper relationships within Oakhurst and across Charlotte, and we’ll be more available to our customers.”

How it works: The build your own cupcake part of the business is unique to Charlotte. You pick your cake base (seven options), frosting (eight options) and then add toppings (15 options). A single cupcake costs $3 and a dozen cost $30.

Frosting options: Buttercream, honey buttercream, chocolate buttercream, cream cheese icing, Nutella buttercream, cookie  butter buttercream, peanut butter buttercream or key lime buttercream.

Available toppings: Mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Puffs, Oreos (crushed), mini M&M’s, mini-marshmallows, gummy bears, cookie crumble, strawberry pop tarts, Lays Potato Chips, chocolate drizzle, caramel drizzle and raspberry drizzle.

Design: “Our design and the overall atmosphere is dynamic and family-focused, with a little bit of edge,” said Ella. The bakery is 1,200 square feet, and has retail space, a cake-tasting room and an industrial-sized kitchen. Local artists Andy Rocco and Matt Moore created a custom mural for one of the interior walls that’s super Instagram-worthy.

Location & Hours: Swirl is located in a new Oakhurst strip mall and the exact address is 1640 Oakhurst Commons Drive, Suite 103. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday