Yesterday, Cupcake Royale announced its new Cap Hill location (at 1111 E Pike) will open on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Free strawberry “babycakes” will be handed out to anyone who is not too self-conscious to say “legalize frostitution” at the counter.

If you’ve missed the great local coverage of recent changes at Royale, it goes like this: Earlier this year, owner Jody Hall, recognizing a need to upgrade her batter given the heavy competition, called upon genius pastry chef Sue McCown (Earth and Ocean, Coco La Ti Da) to help her tweak the recipe. Rebekah Denn reported that story.

She’s also made major moves to make sure her cupcakes are as locally sourced as possible, Seattle Weekly’s Jonathan Kauffman recently wrote.

The new location is in the Tom Kundig-designed Eleven Eleven East Pike building and promises to be pretty darn good looking.

Will a brand-new batter, locavore approach, and swank Capitol Hill location be enough to help Cupcake Royale win the cupcake wars? We’ll have to see.

Want to read more about local cupcakes? See results of Seattle Met’s recent cupcake taste test here.