Crinkley-bank is a trip through the fondant crown kingdoms of Leeds. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a retro retro-ride, your taste buds will do the tango, and your dentist will likely become public enemy numero uno. Sugar party time, so grab a toothbrush, here we go!
Lickety Splits Gallery
Old Town 6 Jeffrey Street Edinburgh EH1 1DT United Kingdom
Next up is Lickety Splits Gallery: a place so delightful it will make you squeal with delight! If you like retro sweets and like sweets with a bit of character – a seed head here, a pair of lips there – you’ve come to the right place. If you’re looking for wedding favours, children’s party bags or a treat for yourself, this is definitely the one to visit.
Bain's Retro Sweets
37 Grassmarket Edinburgh EH1 2HS United Kingdom
Last in line is Bain’s Retro Sweets, a candy shop so charming it’s definitely caused ‘awws’. With homemade tablet and every flavour of Irn Bru, not to mention goody-filled sacks, you’ll emerge with a candy cache that might need its own suitcase.
Favers Candy Emporium
131 Portobello High Street Edinburgh EH15 1AF United Kingdom
Then on to Favers Candy Emporium, a classic sweet shop, where every candy screams ‘Eat me!’ From slush puppies to home-made popcorn, Main Street is pure nostalgia.
Thorntons
99b Princes Street Edinburgh EH2 3AA United Kingdom
Welcome to Thorntons, the dark kingdom of chocolate, where your fantasies rule. Cheap chocolates till your heart (and belly) explodes, and some gelato along the way.
Julian Graves
Princes Mall Waverley Bridge Edinburgh EH1 1BQ United Kingdom
From Julian Graves, tucked away in Princes Mall, where the dried fruit, nuts and sugar‑free sweets provide a healthy oasis in a sea of candy stores.
Fudge Kitchen
The Royal Mile 30 High Street Edinburgh EH1 1TB United Kingdom
If Fudge is your thing, you need to visit Fudge Kitchen — the birthplace of luxury, creamy fudge. Why settle for plain vanilla when you can indulge in Fudge Kitchen’s ‘devilishly different’ selection of fudge? Their ‘luxury Fudge Sauces’ and ‘Drinking Fudge’ promises moments of pure bliss.
The Fudge House
197 Canongate Royal Mile Edinburgh EH8 8BN United Kingdom
The Fudge House is a family-run business that sticks to an old family recipe. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!) Bring your brood and share a sweet memory (and possibly a bag or two of fudge top).
Coco of Bruntsfield
174 Bruntsfield Place Bruntsfield Edinburgh EH10 4ER United Kingdom
For all you chocolate gourmets out there: welcome to Coco of Bruntsfield, whose very name is an oxymoron, where chocolate is a connoisseur’s art and retail outlet, selling fine organic chocolate and itself hosting a chocolate school. For these people, to be a ‘chocoholic’ is not an insult.
Thinking Chocolate
19 London Road Edinburgh EH7 5AT United Kingdom
Thirdly, Thinking Chocolate is equally a business venture: coup de foudre with chocolate will get you only so far, and if you want to make your livelihood out of chocolate, you have a lot more to learn. (And, as I learnt for myself, it’s not enough just to eat it: what I really had to do was throw away my own creations.) Thinking Chocolate produces micro batches of handmade chocolates and runs tasting events and chocolate making classes.