Imagine this: a bright, cheery bakery by day with a long counter that runs down the middle of the room and ends at a large display of delicious cupcakes. Outside is a patio of tables where you can enjoy your cupcakes in the sunshine. By night, the space is dimmer, “loungier,” with an ambiance that matches that of the rest of downtown Champaign’s trendy dining establishments. Day or night, it may soon be the best place in Champaign to enjoy a cupcake.

Though the shop still has a bit of construction left, the plywood façade has come down from the front of the space, and Cakes on Walnut, 114 N. Walnut St., is nearer to opening than ever.

“I want it to be a place people will want to hang out, just a fun environment,” says entrepreneur and owner Trisha Bates, who crafted her shop to be somewhere that she herself would want to spend time. “I enjoy good food, good wine and good company.”

And you can expect to find these things at Cakes on Walnut.

The shop will offer the usual, well-known cupcake flavors, but many will also be pleased to find other flavors that, while simple, are not usually seen in cupcakes. Though Cakes on Walnut’s menu is still in the works, Bates names green tea, pistachio and coconut as a few varieties that may be seen in the near future.

Along with cupcakes, Cakes on Walnut will serve coffee, a variety of teas, bottled sodas and juices as well as some wines and liqueurs to be paired with the desserts.

“We want to offer a well-rounded dessert experience,” says Bates.

As for good company, Bates believes that there will be no shortage of such in downtown Champaign, a place that she says she has “fallen in love with.”

“This town has a lot of great people and a lot of talent — and a lot of people who are interested in and care about the downtown community,” she says. She attributes the progress of her shop to the help of other downtown shop owners and restaurateurs.

“I started out a year ago completely clueless,” says Bates, 23, who graduated from the University of Illinois in 2007 and is opening Cakes on Walnut with her sister, Amanda, 27, who lives and works in Pennsylvania. “I’ve gotten a lot of support from people who have no reason to support me,” she says. “I was surprised that there wasn’t more of a competitive edge, but it seems like when people want their own community to thrive, they’re willing to say, ‘Here is my experience, and this is my advice.’”

As the last bits of construction are completed and the menu begins to come together, Bates’ year-plus of work and anticipation is finally coming to culmination. Cakes on Walnut is expected to open for business within the next two months.