The Naughty Guide 2010 Part Un: Let them eat cake

To those who say the cupcake is dead, who take their slavish devotion to that-which-is-cool to such extremes that even their diets fall victim to la mode, I say this. Suck. My. Cox.

Patrick Cox that is! The shoe designer has left the elves in charge and joined the cult of cake and on Brewer Street, Soho, lies the church - Cox Cookies & Cake. Of course, brightly coloured frosting on our desserts is so ubiquitous nowadays, with giants like Primrose and Hummingbird churning out the little beauties in their millions. But there's something about Cox's creations...

Maybe it's the Soho setting - wandering down Brewer searching desparately for something to sink your teeth into. Cox himself has said, "I think it should be somewhere between a disco, a sex-shop and a cake shop." The aforementioned disco vibe is evident, by the way, in the Tracey Emin piece which hangs behind the counter. A neon sign which reads, "I keep haunting you".

Or perhaps it's simply that these are not your average prim and pretty cakes tied up with a ribbon. These are truly naughty cupcakes (the 'beefcake' comes adorned with a little bulging bicep!) featuring pouting Dali lips, Warhol's Marilyn print and even little skulls & crossbones! If there's anything less ladylike than black icing all over your face...

As you exit Cox's, sucking your fingers and dizzy with sugar, blinking in the bright sunlight, only one thing comes to mind. "Hmmm, I must be in Soho. How very naughty."