Items Selected:\nRed Velvet Cupcake\nCarrot Cake Cupcake\nCake Batter Cupcake\nDrumstick Cupcake\nGooey Bar\n\nLocated in a less than stellar looking strip-mall just off the 215 nearing the Veterans Memorial Highway and demarcated by a sign that simply reads \""Cupcake Caf\u00e9 Bakery\"" it was in acknowledging that dessert was unlikely to be a part of dinner plans at Raku that I stopped in to Lil' Brown Sugar and greeted by the smell of industrial cleanser rather than cinnamon and sugar on entering the door I nearly turned tail to the run, the festive d\u00e9cor and overall distance from home eventually convincing me to stay despite the fact that not a soul was to be seen until a young woman emerged from the back nearly three minutes later.\n\nUndoubtedly a mom n' pop spot, complete with pictures of the family alongside their children on the walls, Lil' Brown Sugar's menu is a rather concise collection of eight small-sized cupcakes plus a few treats priced at $1-3 apiece and opting to sample nearly half of the collection to the tune of just under thirteen dollars the results were a mixed bag at best - the St. Louis style Gooey Bar undoubtedly the best of the quintet with ample notes of butter oozing forth beneath a topcoat baked to a crispy flake.\n\nSitting down to snap some photos and sample Red Velvet that ate more like a frosted breakfast muffin than a moist dessert 'cake' before taking the glut of my bounty to the road it was just after dinner that I finally indulged in the rest of my selections and beginning with carrot cake fared featured good texture but not enough spice beneath sugary cream cheese it was finally in the simple \""cake batter\"" that could more simply be named \""Vanilla\"" that an overall impressive cupcake was found, the up-front sweetness serving to accentuate the vanilla rather than overshadow it while also pairing well with coffee, the same not to be said of Lil' Brown Sugar's signature \""drumstick\"" that returned to the dry mouthfeel of the Red Velvet as notes of what I can only assume to be cheap cocoa powder got lost beneath thick frosting, chocolate drizzle, and peanuts plus an off-kilter ice cream cone.\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hedging my bets and guessing that some of the dryness delivered by both chocolate options was due to my late time of arrival and unlikelihood of items being baked more than once during the day, there are simply far better options for baked goods throughout Sin City and while some may think that cupcakes are entirely pass\u00e9 a simple look at the business generated at Sprinkles, Retro, and Gimme Some Sugar will clearly indicate otherwise...the fact is that Lil' Brown Sugar simply isn't that good.