A whisk handle, the smell of icing and a counter full of cupcakes greet you at the door of Cupcrazed in Fort Mill, S.C. This baked goods factory has received praise on Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars” competition show, and you quickly understand why when you enter their space, just off I-77 a few miles south of Charlotte.

We discovered Cupcrazed on Instagram, and we’ve liked and commented on the business’ foodie posts for months. On a recent trip through South Carolina, we stopped in for the first time.

The atmosphere is like a cross between a cozy coffee shop and a big-city bakery. Colorful decor, including room for a few patrons to sit around tables and on couches, awaits, as well as an employee at the counter.

This is the kind of place where it’s helpful to stand in line to have time to make your selections. In addition to cookies, brownies, cake pops and cakes, an assortment of cupcake options awaits each day. Be advised that specialty concoctions change daily, but there are always the classic vanilla, chocolate, carrot cake and other options.

When you’re interested in more complex flavors, it can be a tad difficult to decide what choice your stomach wants to make that day. So, step back and take a minute. We had to select between Cookies and Cream, Reese’s Cup, Key Lime Pie, S’mores, Triple Chocolate, Raspberry and a variety of other unique flavors. You should know that these aren’t basic cupcake flavors. My S’mores cupcake came with a Graham cracker topping, a toasted marshmallow and a fun-size Hershey bar on top.

Individual cupcakes at Cupcrazed are $3, but you get a bit of a deal if you want to buy a half-dozen or dozen and share. Six cupcakes will cost you $15, essentially giving you a free cupcake. Twelve cupcakes will cost you $30, meaning you’re paying for 10 treats and getting two for free at that rate.

We enjoyed a cupcake each on our visit and then took four cupcakes to our family to share. One cupcake at a time will more than fill your need for a sweet treat, but later that day or the next, the memory of that delicious cupcake makes you wish you had bought more while you were in the bakery. Luckily, this place is easy to find in a shopping village less than a mile off the interstate. That’s a good thing because the Instagram posts each day make me a bit Cupcrazed.

Cupcrazed Cakery

936 Market Street, Fort Mill, S.C.

Cupcrazed.com