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Nigella Lawson: Valentine's Chocolate Indulgence

What's Valentine's Day without chocolate — or better yet, rich, moist chocolate cake? Nigella Lawson discusses with Steve Inskeep the keys to the perfect chocolate cake and the secrets to chocolate's allure.

The food writer and television host says she has "managed to put away quite a few chocolate cakes and bars of chocolate in my time." But Lawson says she's not an "indiscriminate lover of all things chocolate."

"I don't think one should go to the giddy heights of chocolate snobbery," she says. The most expensive chocolate isn't necessary, but "you've got to use, I think, a good-enough bar."

So Lawson suggests looking for brands containing a minimum of 70 percent cocoa solids.

The perfect chocolate cakes should be damp, rather than dry and should have "a hint of pudding about them," she says.

So, what makes cooking with chocolate so special for Valentine's Day?

"It is not a necessity — it's an indulgence," Lawson says.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.