“In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine”- Robin Leach.

Did that title throw you off ? Or have you heard of chocolate salami before? I , for one, first heard about this only very recently. On the face of it , it seems like a simple chocolate fudge rolled up into a log.

But a little reading up told me that Chocolate salami is infact a traditional Italian and Portugese dessert. It is called Salame al Cioccolato , is common on Christmas cookie platters and is an upscale , slightly whimsical version of the refrigerator biscuit cake. They are formed into sausage shapes , dusted with icing sugar and sliced- hence the “salami”. They are even tied with string to increase the likeness to the meat!

Recipes for the salami vary with melted chocolate , rum and egg yolks used in many of the traditional ones, and most being a no-cook , no-bake version. I am always wary of using uncooked eggs , so I steered clear of those. I have also used cocoa , because I find more people seem to have cocoa at home as compared to baking chocolate. And because of the cocoa, my recipe involves a bit of cooking on the stove top – but all very quick and easy, I assure you!

You can add anything but the kitchen sink into these . I went with whatever I had at hand , and thought would add interest in texture ,colour and flavour. So crushed digestive biscuits , some cranberries and some pistachios ! Just throw in whatever you want and like ! Serve them with tea or coffee , as an after dinner sweet bite or pack them up in your kids lunch boxes!

To be honest , I didn’t expect much out of these when I tried them except a lets-try-it-once easy candy. But it tasted just fab! The chocolate was just sweet enough, the biscuits were crisp , the nuts crunchy and the cranberries tart ! Its like a cross between the richness of a truffle, the ease of a chocolate fudge and textures of a no bake cookie. We just kept having slices each time we passed by the refrigerator . Nom Nom Nom!

Chocolate salami

Chocolate salami or Salame al Cioccolato is a delicious no-bake Italian tradition in which chocolate mixture is rolled into a sausage , chilled, sliced and served- like Salami! My version contains crushed digestives , chopped pistachios and dried cranberries ... its simple but so yum!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 4 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings 40 cookies

Ingredients

  

• 112 grams or 1/2 cups unsalted butter
• 75 grams or 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 6 tbsps cocoa
• 60 ml or 1/4 cups milk
• 10 - 12 digestive biscuits
• 1/4 cup pistachios chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries (I used Delmonte)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Crush your biscuits roughly into small pieces by hand or food processor.
• Add the pistachios and cranberries and mix well. Keep aside.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter .
• Add the sugar and whisk until it melts.
• Add the cocoa and heat while mixing until smooth.
• Add the milk and stir until smooth.
• Pour this chocolate mixture over the biscuits, cranberries and pistachios, and mix well.
• Divide the mixture into two halves and place each on cling wrap.
• Roll each into a log using the cling wrap. Flatten the sides (round ends)
• Refrigerate for atleast four hours and unwrap from cling wrap.
• Dust with icing sugar or cocoa , slice and serve!

Notes

Step by step Tutorial :

 

Also:

• These can be stored refrigerated for up to 2 weeks . Wrap in parchment or butter paper .
• I got two logs of about 3 cms diameter and 20 cms length with this recipe.
• If your sugar is thickening but not melting , just carry on with the cocoa and milk. Keep heating and stirring until it melts.