Cox Cookies and Cake + HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I’m really not a big fan of the hype surrounding neither cupcakes nor New Year’s Eve. But I think I’ve found the perfect cake for that last night of the year…and it’s a cupcake.

Last night I walked past this blingy, shiny multi-coloured shop front in Brewer Street in Soho and was nailed to the ground, hypnotised by all the bright lights.

This cupcake and cookie shop is called Cox Cookies and Cake and it’s the brainchild of Canadian-British designer & shoemaker Patrick Cox and master patissier Eric Lanlard and it’s nothing like your average cutesy and cheerful pink cupcake shop.

Oh no, this place is like a psychedelic stripper cave, filled with neon signs, skull-clad cakes and handsome staff wearing studded leather aprons.

Mesmerised by the interior I decided to pop into the shop today and try one of their crazy looking cakes.

I took a long hard look at the different choices: should I choose the Pop Cake – a vanilla cake with a blueberry compote centre, vanilla frosting and decorated with a chocolate Marilyn Monroe? Or maybe the Bling Cake – A raspberry cake with raspberry compote centre and decorated with pink icing and sugar diamonds?

Nah, too ordinary. I left the shop with this one:

The Black Skull Cake. A triple Valrhona chocolate cake with goth black frosting and a dark chocolate jewelled skull. This is one of the shop’s special cupcakes that cost £4 (yes I know, that’s bloody expensive), the classic ones cost a more reasonable £2.50.

But this one was actually worth the money. The cream cheese based frosting was perfect and the skull made of bitter dark chocolate. Even the normally boring sponge cake base was lovely. I’ll definitely be back for more.

So with that last blingy picture there’s just one thing left to say:

A very happy new year to all my dear readers. I hope 2011 will be a good one!

COX COOKIES AND CAKE
13 Brewer Street
Soho, London
Website

Favourite blog: Goddammit I’m Mad

Sister Wolf is pretty grumpy (try fucking mad) about a lot of things: pretentious (fashion) bloggers, especially the ones who use words like “rad” and “gnarly”, horse-like fashion editors, overpriced and over-accessorised “It” shoes and clueless style in general.

She does like a few things though, like Yohji Yamamoto and tattoos.  Oh, and she’s the living proof that you don’t have to chop off your long black hair or lay off the red-lipstick-Morticia-look just because you’ve hit your fifties.

Here’s how she introduces herself:

Sister Wolf has been mad for a long time. She is here to share the joy. Celebrities make her mad, Republicans make her mad, cultural crimes and the misuse of language make her apoplectic. Lots and lots of other stuff, too. Funny things make her happy! Horrible things (like those chimps who didn’t get any birthday cake) make her day.

Read Goddammit I’m Mad

Favourite blog: Go Fug Yourself

fug (n.)
1. A state of extreme ugliness. Ex: “The level of fug at the Video Music Awards is always hard to stomach.”

2. A proper name for someone possessed of eternal heinousness, as Chloë Sevigny: “Oh look, there’s Fug, looking all miserable and dour in her black turtleneck and white frilly farm dress.”

Det er en lille smule ondt, men ikke for meget. Og så er det voldsomt velskrevet, når de to forhenværende “recappere” Jessica Morgan og Heather Cocks revser (og af og til roser) diverse A-D celebrities tøjvalg.

Udover at det er en fryd at læse, så er det altid sjovt at lure på kändisserne og deres outfits – og sjovt nok er jeg (næsten) altid mest begejstret for dem, der bliver dømt mest hæslige og gakkede af de to bloggere. Som f.eks. Chloë Sevigny, Roisin Murphy, Maggie Gyllenhaal og dronningen af quirky avantgarde: Hussein Chalayan-musen Tilda Swinton.

GoFugYourself

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It’s a bit evil, but never too much. Jessica Morgan and Heather Cocks used to work as recappers but for the last 6 years they have been the driving force behind the extremely witty and well-written blog GoFugYourself that tears apart A-D celebrities’ outfits on the red carpet.

It’s always fun to see what the celebs are wearing and the blog is quite a “reverse” inspiration to me, as I tend to love the outfit that the bloggers hate the most. Like the ones seen on Chloë Sevigny,Roisin Murphy, Maggie Gyllenhaal and of course the queen of avantgarde: Hussein Chalayan muse Tilda Swinton.

GoFugYourself

Favourite blog: IS MENTAL

Photo via ismental.blogspot.com

En af mine favoritter, når det gælder modeblogs er IS MENTAL. Bag den står New Yorkeren Amanda, der skriver løst og fast om nye tøjkøb, lager- og kollektionssalg, yndlingsdesignere, anderledes design og gademode.

Hendes smag er rå, street’et, kantet og humoristisk og så har hun en forkærlighed for vilde smykker og sko, genbrug, japanske designere og de mere avantgarde europæiske som Margiela og Demeulemeester.  Og så elsker jeg, at hendes blog ikke er prætentiøs, snarere som en god veninde med fantastisk stil, der prikker en på skulderen og siger “hey, prøv lige at se den her”.

http://is-mental.blogspot.com/

English: One of my favourite fashion/style blogs is IS MENTAL. It’s written by New York-based Amanda, who writes about her new buys, funny gadgets, her favourite designers, street style and sample sales.

Her taste and style is raw, edgy and a bit street and she loves statement  jewellery and chunky shoes and the more avantgarde Japanese designers + of course European stars like Margiela and Demeulemeester. I love that her blog isn’t pretentious. It’s more like a good friend (with very good taste) that lets you in on her personal style and latest shopping secrets.

http://is-mental.blogspot.com/

Favourite blog: The Best Life Ever

Photo via thebestlifeever.blogspot.com

Da jeg ikke har en blogroll ude til højre, er det vist på tide, at jeg deler nogle flere af mine yndlingsblogs med jer. En af dem er “The Best Life Ever” fra det yderst charmerende canadiske par Kevyn og Stacy.

Ideen bag bloggen er såre simpel: den handler om de små gode ting, om de ting der gør dem lykkelige i hverdagen. Og om at vi måske ikke altid er herre over det ting, der sker omkring os, men at vi til gengæld selv har ansvaret for vores eget liv og hvordan vi møder verden.

Deres positive attitude smitter, og det var via deres blog at jeg blev introduceret til Eckhardt Tolles bog om at leve i nuet “The Power of Now”. (En inspirerende bog jeg varmt kan anbefale også til dem, der som jeg selv er temmelig skeptisk omkring al New Age filosofi.)

Kevyn og Stacy siger selv om deres blog:

We believe happiness is a choice and here is where we document with photos and words the things that make us happy in life. If following this blog makes you happy then please, follow along.

Tjek “The Best Life Ever” ud

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English: I don’t have a blogroll in my side bar. Instead I intend to write a series of posts, introducing you to some of my favourite blogs that have been in my Google Reader for a long time.

First up is “The Best Life Ever”. This blog is written by the charming Canadian couple Kevin and Stacy and is a recording of all the (small and big) things in life that make them happy. It can be anything from a snowstorm to spending time with family and friends.

Their blog is all about how you might not be able to control the things happening around you, but you can control how you meet the world. It is through their blog that I got introduced to Eckhardt Tolle’s “The Power of Now”. (I’m not too keen on New Age philosophy but found this book really inspiring – as long as you don’t use it as a bible.)

Here’s Kevin and Stacy’s own introduction to their blog:

We believe happiness is a choice and here is where we document with photos and words the things that make us happy in life. If following this blog makes you happy then please, follow along.

Check out “The Best Life Ever”

Favourite blog: Dallas Clayton

Jeg er blevet sendt  til tælling med en ordentlig omgang post-julefrokost-vintersjapforkølelse, så min blog er ikke blevet det festfyrværkeri af nye indslag, jeg  havde planlagt. Men, men, men….det skal ikke forhindre mig i at dele en af mine yndlingsblogs med jer: www.dallasclayton.com. Dallas Clayton er tegner/illustrator og fortæller og generelt rørende kreativ, og alt han laver har en dybere mening bag.

Han står bag verdens fineste børnebog, sådan en som giver én en voldsom lyst til at få nogle børn, bare så man kan købe den og læse højt. Den hedder “An Awesome Book” og kan købes her . Ja, jeg ved godt den ikke er på dansk, men så meget er der heller ikke at oversætte, mens man læser.

Og hvem kan andet end elske en person som på sit website bl.a. skriver følgende om sig selv:

I try to make things that are beautiful.
Sometimes these things are written down.
Sometimes they are drawn.
Sometimes they are wrapped and plastic and sold in important stores
for more money than they cost to manufacture.
I love making most things.
I am most interested in making people happy.

Hans site består af små tegninger med tilhørende tekst, tit, eller faktisk ret ofte, temmelig kyniske, men altid berigende, så skynd dig at abonnere på hans RSS, så din blog-indbakke også kan blive fodret med Clayton-guldkorn i små bidder.

Her er en smagsprøve:

SANE

There are crazy people out there
who talk to cats
and see ghosts in their food.

They’re all over the place-
driving the bus,
making a bagel,
locked up somewhere you don’t have to look at.

There are crazy people out there
and many having a better time than you.

(text & image from www.dallasclayton.com)

English summary: I just wanted to share this guy with you as he writes/draws one of my favourite blogs. His name is Dallas Clayton and he’s and artist, illustrator, writer and all in all very creative.  And what’s not to like about a guy that writes something like this about himself:

I try to make things that are beautiful.
Sometimes these things are written down.
Sometimes they are drawn.
Sometimes they are wrapped and plastic and sold in important stores
for more money than they cost to manufacture.
I love making most things.
I am most interested in making people happy.

A part from almost daily drawings on his blog he’s written/drawn an amazing children’s book, simply called “An Awesome Book”. You can read more about it and order it via his  website: www.dallasclayton.com