ABOUT CHOCCYWOCCYDOODAH

Choccywoccydoodah became a true fairy tale when Boss Christine and her team came up with a successful idea of running a Chocolate (cake) Shop located in the Sea-side town of Brighton. The team specializes in chocolate one-off sculptured fantasies, bespoke wedding cakes using only the finest chocolate and ingredients, chocolate gifts (small and thoughtful, as well as extravagant gestures), birthday cakes with a choice of flavors decorated in chocolate, slabs of chocolate, chocolate fantasy pets, really, really naughty stuff... All in chocolate!

As the business began to grow several customers had been blown away with awesome cake creations. Per year they are now building 7,500 cakes and are still consuming all their celebrities that have ordered, celebrities such as Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, Sir Bob Geldof, Madonna, Princes and Princesses from far away countries and surprisingly the Prime Ministers have all had a moment where they needed an extraordinary cake.

Christine claims her team is excellent, but not necessarily the people you would employ and defiantly out of the ordinary, but all uniquely brilliant. Jina, who also belongs to the Choccywoccydoodah crew is in charge of all the sales and is not to be trifled with.

Jim the baker is apparently the sex god of the company but the choccy on the cake is Dave, the number 1 designer in the company and as Christine says " he is my absolute star pupil and an incredibly talented artist.

THE IMAGE OF CHOCCYWOCCYDOODAH CREWS

QUEEN OF CONFECTIONERY - CHRISTINE

Christine heads a team of expert chocolatiers - all trained in her extraordinary techniques. She has very high standards, so she's not a woman to be messed with!

Through experimentation and innovation she has devised techniques that are truly unique to Choccywoccydoodah. They mould chocolate as if it's plasticine, and then let it harden so that they can carve it into magical forms. The recipe for their plasticine chocolate's top secret, so all the Choccywoccydoodah staff have to sign a confidentiality contract to stop the recipe from getting out.

For Christine 'chocolate is magical' and she wants her customers to be transported into her fantasy world when they arrive at Choccywoccydoodah. She meets and greets them and helps to design whatever chocolate creation they can dream up.

CAPTAIN CREATIVE - DAVE

Dave, a former pop star, joined the team with no CV and no chocolate experience. Until the age of 30 he had never even held down a 'proper' job. However, armed with a portfolio of his work from art school, he was taken on. 10 years later he's senior designer and undisputed 'Captain Creative' behind the eclectic designs.

Christine credits him with being 'the best chocolatier in the world' and says that between them they have taken chocolate to places it has never been before!

BOY WONDER – TOM

In the past Tom went through jobs at the rate most pople go through clean socks - some lasting less than a day. Choccywoccydoodah has been a different story though. Since joining the team 3 and a half years ago, he has become Dave's right hand man.

Everything he knows he has learned from Captain Creative. He still has a problem with authority though and desperately wants Dave's job...

COMPANY SEX GOD - JIM

Jim the Baker was a busker before he joined Choccywoccydoodah 9 years ago. He was once signed to a label and planned to be 'the future of rock 'n roll'.

He is a fantastic cake maker and can magic up a whole array of delicious moist sponges in a variety of flavours. He prides himself on never using scales or any electrical equipment. He prefers do it all by hand and is amazing to watch in action.

FRENCH FANCY - DAVEED

Born in France, Daveed, is the café manager. He has worked in the shop and the café so knows the company inside out.

Daveed used to work in restaurants and on private yachts. A trained dancer, he still does the odd show.

Daveed is referred to by Christine as her ‘french fancy’ and is very happy to live up to the name! He loves to dress up and be a flamboyant front man for the company when needed.

FLOWER GIRL - JENNY

Jenny has been working at Choccy for over four years. She studied drama and not wanting to work in an office looked for something more creative. She's one of the girls who will be showing newbie Rebecca the ropes.

Jenny loves everything Vintage; if she could have a superpower it would be time-travel so she could travel back and collect lots of clothes before they become vintage.

THE VOICE - REBECCA

Rebecca is the newest member of the Choccy floristry team and is wife to Jim the Baker as well the singer in the same band. She’s been with the company for a year now and has firmly found her feet, mastering the skills needed to make dainty flowers to compliment Dave and Tom’s creations.

Rebecca (Spex) always has a word to put in, and her endless enthusiasm and laughter are a fun and bubbly addition to the studio.

SHOP MANAGER - BEN

Ben has taken over from Gina as the Shop manager making sure the shop is always looking its best to entice customers into the Choccy world.

Ben was trained in acting and he adores Lily Savage. He has ambitions to make it on the stage as his drag queen alter-ego Shelley Benjamin.

ADMINISTRATOR & PRODUCT FINISHING - STACEY

On moving to Brighton, Stacey decided Choccywoccydoodah was the only place where she was prepared to work. She says Brighton is the best place in the UK as you're allowed to be different from the norm. Her motto is not to take life too seriously.

CAFÉ ASSISTANT - HENRY

Henry is café assistant as well as the party host in the boudoir. He uses his power of reading dishwasher tarot to tell the future. Giggly and delightful, Henry is a perfect gent.

ASSISTANT CAFE MANAGER - PAUL

Completing the trio of boys in the cafe alongside Daveed and Henry, Paul's mission is to keep anyone who visits full of chocolate and laughing.

He loves the theatre and everything to do with it but is also a geek at heart playing computer games and reading comics.

He has aspirations to one day become café manager.

BAKERY MANAGER & CHOCOLATIER - GUNTIS

Latvian Guntis started at Choccywoccydoodah doing the washing up. Since then he has worked his way up the ranks to become Bakery Manager.

When he's not at work he enjoys rollerblading along the seafront, but his dream job would be as an ice hockey player or race driver - he loves to drive too fast.

Guntis is a powerhouse of production, robotically creating the most incredible chocolate treats from dusk till dawn.

CHOCOLATIER - JANIS

Janis is Guntis's younger brother. He trained as a carpenter but is a wannabe computer geek, when he's not working with chocolate. With its sea and small city vibe he says Brighton reminds him of his home town in Latvia.

Always quick with a witty one liner, Janis is a hard working but funny figure, always there to pick up the pieces when things go wrong.

TEXAN BEAUTY - GINA

Texan Gina landed on Choccywoccydoodah's door step and started work as Store Manager. Gina used to organise staff in the shop, and she was always coming up with innovative ways of drawing in the customers.

Gina left Choccy after series 1 of the show and is now busy pursuing her PR career.

HOW TO MAKE A CHOCOLATE BOWL

Dave from Choccywoccydoodah shows how to make a chocolate bowl using a balloon, perfect for impressing dinner party guests.

At Choccywoccydoodah, they use callebaut chocolate, which is available online. However, these techniques can be done with regular chocolate, as long as dark chocolate is at least 70% cocoa solids, milk chocolate is at least 34% cocoa solids and white chocolate is at least 29% cocoa butter.

What you'll need for one large bowl

-1 large balloon ( make sure the rubber is thickish, or else the balloon might pop!)
-sellotape
-1 medium sized bowl
-200g dark or milk chocolate
-200g white chocolate
-baking paper
-a sharp knife
-a sweet filling of your choice, such as strawberries and cream

Step 1

Blow up your balloon and tie the end. Take a small piece of sellotape and place it just to the side of the knot in the balloon - this will ensure that the balloon stays in one piece when you deflate it later.

Step 2

Place the knotted end of the balloon inside the bowl and secure in place with sellotape.

Step 3

In two separate bowls melt the two kinds of chocolate either in a microwave, or over a pan of boiling water. Make sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water if using this method.

Once the chocolate has melted, leave it to cool until it is around body temperature. You can test this by dabbing a bit on your lip. If it doesn't feel hot, the chocolate is ready. Cooling the chocolate is very important as the balloon may pop if it's too hot.

Pour around a quarter to a third of the dark or milk chocolate onto the balloon followed by a quarter to a third of the white.

Step 4

Leave the chocolate to set either in a cool room, or in the fridge if you want to speed things up. It is ready when the surface is solid enough to touch and no longer shiny.

Step 5

Continue to layer the chocolate onto the balloon, allowing it to set between applications until you have used almost all the chocolate - save about a quarter of the white chocolate to make the base of the bowl.

Step 6

Pour on the final bit of white chocolate and then immediately flip the balloon over onto a piece of baking paper. Hold the bowl or balloon until the chocolate has set enough for you to take your hands away without the balloon moving. Then leave to set for a couple more minutes.

Step 7

Undo the sellotape which is attaching the bowl to the balloon and then lift off the bowl.

Step 8

Hold onto the knotted end of the balloon and pierce it with a sharp knife in the center of the piece of sellotape you attached earlier.

Step 9

Pull gently on the knotted part of the balloon to help let the air out. Once the majority of the air has been released, you should be able to remove the balloon easily.