Chocolate, cake and curses

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Sounds like an agenda for a cracking weekend, doesn’t it?  Well in addition to that it is also the title of a book out tomorrow from Choccywoccydoodah, one of my all time favourite shops in the world.   Though there are in fact two of them:  the flagship store in Brighton and the Mothership in London.    It goes beyond that though, Choccywoccy is not just a shop, it is a way of life and isn’t somewhere you just go to buy cake or chocolate, you go to Tesco for that.  Choccywoccy is about life being for living and that chocolate, cake and all things sweet and fabulous, whilst naughty, are in fact essential.

This book celebrates all things chocolate and cake from a team that have dedicated their lives to being these makers of joy and bakers of the most magnificent cakes.   It is a story book of recipes where Christine and the Doodahs share their own personal chocolcate and ckae favouries and also gives a sneak behind the scenes of this incredible business.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of the Secret Room above their London store, just off Carnaby Street, and immediately booked it to take a bunch of fellow bloggers.   And have written about them several times:  Choccywoccydoodah and the secret room and every time I go there I come away with a real sense of “everything is all right with the world”.   And no matter how much chocolate or cake we have at home I know I have to buy just a bit more to take back.

This book is everything you would expect from this crazy crowd of craftsmen and women, it’s quirky, its insightful, it’s fun.   It makes you want to just reach for the freezer and make an ice cream sundae because you have seen the recipe for theirs on page 58.   Even though it is only 9am you suddenly really want cherries dipped in vodka and somehow it doesn’t feel wrong.

It also makes me wish I had a dog that liked dog biscuits so that I could make these for him (and that he was a schnauzer, not a Jack Russell)

I love this book and have not only read it cover to cover.  Twice.  But have dipped into and both drooled over the photos (can you imagine the fun in styling a picture like this:

and the food)

The book is out tomorrow priced £20 and would make a fantastic present for anybody who loves chocolate, cake or curses.

And talking of which there is new room in the Brighton Mothership  called the “Witches Kitchen”, which also looks stunning, do check out the website for how to book.