Few would argue that chocolate is the indulgence of choice for most of us and that the irresistible cocoa-based product is something that we're happy to enjoy in all kinds of recipes. So who better than Delia Smith to guide us down some interesting byways? Chocolate is one of the most attractive volumes in the four-volume set The Delia Collection and it's difficult to imagine a better collection of recipes than those offered here.

No space is wasted on lengthy introductions telling us how wonderful chocolate is (and who needs reminding of such a truism?); Delia plunges us right into the choccie fray with a very serviceable recipe for Chocolate Fudge Cake, with wholemeal flour used to give an extra special moistness to the cake. Typically, the recipe gives us just the bald, unvarnished facts--Delia's speciality as a chef. Similarly, even more indulgent recipes perform a canny balancing act--describing the most outrageous of recipes in simple, unaffected prose. How about Squidgy Chocolate Cakes with Prunes in Marsala? This most seductive of treats is surprisingly made without flour. Very little in this volume will do much for your waistline, but don't we all deserve a little indulgence? These are not recipes for every day, after all.

In fact, one of the few criticisms Delia has received over the years is her lack of attention to calories, but weightwatching is not what one goes to her recipes for. Chocolate (with its totally delectable recipes) is as dangerous to the figure as it is mouth-watering. But this is a book that belongs on most cookery shelves. --Barry Forshaw