By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food
Two decades into their magical career of crafting bespoke cakes and a whole range of extraordinary chocolate treats, Christine Taylor and Christine Garratt’s Choccywoccydoodah have finally released their first ever cook book – “Choccywoccydoodah: Chocolate, Cake and Curses”. Following on from the flourishing of two successful stores, in Brighton and in London, as well as having starred in five series of their television show with celebrity fans including Whoopi Goldberg, Gok Wan, Derren Brown, Tinie Tempah and more. So with the release of the book, we caught up with creative director Christine Taylor for a quick chat about all things Choccywoccydoodah.
Hi Christine, how’re you today?
“I’m very well, thank you. How are you?”
Great thanks. There’s a brand new Choccywoccydoodah book out, could you tell us a bit more about it please?
“This is our first book! We’ve resisted creating a cookbook for the last 20 years and finally we found a publisher who understands our world of stories, spells, cake, chocolate and curses. The book does contain recipes, alongside stories and tall tales. There are illustrations by Dave, words by me, some cheeky recipes by Doodahs and some irreverence from us all.”
Why did you choose now to release the book?
“The right publisher. We have never wanted to share our secrets, or allow people to believe that if they follow instructions they could recreate what we do. It takes years of training and talent to create our bespoke work. Trevor Dolby at Random House understood that and also understood that the book needed to be an insight into our world, not an instruction manual.”
You and your team have worked alongside plenty of famous faces through your TV series, but if you could choose any celebrity to create a bespoke cake for, who would you choose?
“Difficult question… Probably Jean Paul Gaultier. I have followed his career since my teens with great admiration. Or Dawn French, she is beautiful, funny, [and] likes chocolate. Or maybe Vivienne Westwood, in exchange for handbags. I’m not helping, am I?”
Choccywoccydoodah has been around for 20 years, what made you and Christine decide to start the business?
“Read the book. A large bottle of Gin.”
Was chocolate something that you’d always dreamed of making into a personal profession?
“No. This isn’t a profession; it’s a glorious happy accident. And when I recover from this accident I might grow up and become an architect or a vet. Or an author.”
Book aside, what’s next for yourself and Choccywoccydoodah?
“We are making a new TV series in the autumn and are looking at ways we can create a gypsy version of Choccywoccydoodah to rove the country, then the world.”
Choccywoccydoodah: Chocolate, Cake and Curses is out now and available to buy here.