Chocolate Salami
I have this cookbook that I love. It’s well laid out, has brilliant ideas, delicious photos – I just want to make everything in it. It’s one of few I just thumb through over and over. Problem is, NONE OF THE RECIPES HAVE WORKED SO FAR.
Humph.
I’ve seen chocolate salami before here and there, and it popped up again here, this time labeled “Chocolate Sausage”. (I like salami better.) When I tried to make it it became quickly apparent that it was not going to turn out at all as promised if I followed through with the prescribed ingredients. Ah well. I ditched it and did my own thang.
So essentially what a chocolate salami is is a kind of giant truffle studded with crumbled cookies, nuts and dried fruit, so that when you slice it it looks like processed meat. Yum, hey? Traditional Italian versions call for egg yolks and grappa – I didn’t take it quite so seriously. Mine is chocolate, butter and cream, with toasted hazelnuts, golden raisins and Digestive Biscuits crumbled in because that’s what we had. I’d do it again. I’m thinking it would be a fun alternative to cookies – easy to wrap and give, or set out and hack slices off of. A conversation piece, if you will.
Next time I’ll chop and crumble more finely, for the sake of aesthetics. This is one mighty chunky salami.
Chocolate Salami
AuthorJulie
In a medium bowl, melt the chocolate, butter and cream in the microwave or over simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the hazelnuts, Digestive biscuits and raisins. Chill in the fridge for about an hour, or until cool enough to shape but not yet firm.
Scrape the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log (or two, if you want to make smaller ones). Wrap in the plastic wrap and return to the fridge for several hours, until firm. Take it out and dust it generously all over with icing sugar (you can do this by dumping some icing sugar on the countertop and rolling the log around in it). When you’re ready to serve it, take it out of the fridge for half an hour or so to make it easier to slice.
Makes 1 large or two small salamis.
Ingredients
Directions
In a medium bowl, melt the chocolate, butter and cream in the microwave or over simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth. Stir in the hazelnuts, Digestive biscuits and raisins. Chill in the fridge for about an hour, or until cool enough to shape but not yet firm.
Scrape the mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log (or two, if you want to make smaller ones). Wrap in the plastic wrap and return to the fridge for several hours, until firm. Take it out and dust it generously all over with icing sugar (you can do this by dumping some icing sugar on the countertop and rolling the log around in it). When you’re ready to serve it, take it out of the fridge for half an hour or so to make it easier to slice.
Makes 1 large or two small salamis.
My sister’s mother in law used to make these. She called them “chocolate ducats.” Much more elan, no?
Now this would work!!!!I saw something simiar on a web site somewhere but decided against making it since the egg yolks needed to be tempered, etc and my success rate with other cookies this year had been less thanh satisfactory. This I am going to try and give as gifts. Thank you!!!
That looks delicious!
I’ve been making this for years. It’s great for serving with coffee after dinner with guests. My recipe is slightly different to yours. Thanks for reminding me as I haven’t made it for a long time. May just have to do it again for after xmas dinner.
Hello Julie!
I’m portuguese, and here in Portugal we often make “Salame de Chocolate” for dessert, birthday parties, you name it! 🙂 it’s a very commun treat because it’s a croud pleaser, especially among the youngest, and it’s really ease to make!
Here is the recipe we use in my kitchen 😉 :
Ingredients
250g sugar
200g chocolate powder
250g biscuits (here we have “Maria” biscuits which are very soft tasting but still crunchy!)
75g butter
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon anise liquor (only if adults are going to eat it, of course!)
Preparation:
Mix the sugar with the anise liquor, the butter, the egg yolks and the powder chocolate, mixing everything, with your fingers, until all is well combined.
Break off the biscuits into small pieces and add to the mixture. You will obtain kind of a hard dough.
Extend a large square of aluminum foil and place the dough on top.
Shape the dough as a tube, and wrap tightly with the aluminium foil.
Put in the refrigerator until the dough has harden, a couple of hours.
Cut in thin slices and serve as if they were biscuits!
As you can see, it’s pretty simple! 😉 and usually we don’t add raisins or nuts, but I guess you can put whatever you like! Maybe some extra chocolate chips! eheh
Hope you try this recipe! Enjoy!
Best wishes!
We have a similar family recipe – but we call it stained glass. It’s melted chocolate with coconut, fruity marshmallows and nuts. Mix all the parts and roll into a log, chill and cover in powdered sugar. When you slice it the colourful marshmallows look like stained glass, held together with chocolate.
These were my childhood fav. at Christmas!
Happy holidays
Rachael
Mmm, looks very tasty! This reminds me that I want to make a Buche de Noel this year, I’ve never tried making it before so it will be an interesting experiment!
Now put those slices in a baguette and it’s the perfect lunch combo to go… protein and chocolate rolled up into one! (oh, that’s right… that’s not real ‘salami’ shucks…!!)
I wasn’t going to do any more baking this year, but…
this reminds me of one my Mom used to make when I was little with red and green candied cherries and marshmallows. It looked festive when you sliced it, but I remember it being very sweet. Maybe I could try it with pistachios and dried cranberries?
Of course – you can always replace those gaudy candied cherries with other dried fruit and nuts!!
Nice idea! Something a little different that probably wouldn’t be on every one else’s table.
Russian version!!!
crumbled cookies
condensed milk
coco powder
dried fruit, I like cranberries
toasted nuts, I like pecans
2tbs melted butter
THE BEST EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When it said chocolate salami, I was a little turned off, but as soon as I read the ingredients, all preconceptions went out the window – Yum! This sounds heavenly my dear =D.
HI, Julie… I just finished gifting these to my friends for Christmas. I believe you need the eggs and the cooking bit so that the salami cuts into very thin slices. I love mine with port in it, but it tastes great with rum or brandy or bourbon, too. I will be blogging my recipe and photos when I get the time. But here is a tip for you.
Divide the batch onto plastic wrap for however many you want to make. Larger is easier. Thern roll and tie a knot in the end of the plastic, like salami.
At this point, I use a sushi rolling mat to roll them up in, and I secure that with elastic bands, then refrigerate. These are ribbed, and ridged, and have notched ends – all exactly like an originial Italian Salami. The last step is a little icing sugar mixed with finely chopped nuts and a ground biscuit, or two. I rub (gently) this onto the outside, then wrap then in parchment and brown butchers paper tied with twine and a rustic tag for a “salami type” presentation. They cut thin, and I LOVE them… especially fun for hostess gifts!
Great beginning for you, and you have lots of tips here from many people to have some fun making more.
Happy Holidays,
Valerie
Julie, my dearly departed Mom always made something similar every Christmas and now one of my sisters keeps up the tradition. It’s called Chocolate Log and it goes something like this.
Chocolate Log
Melt:
3 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1tbsp. of butter.
Add:
1 and 1/4 cup icing sugar
1tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 cup miniature marshmallows (1 cup is a guess – you may figure out the consistency that you like)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Chopped Maraschino cherries (optional)
All measurements are approximates and can be varied according to taste.
Mix it all up then roll in graham cracker crumbs until covered. Roll each log in aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from aluminum paper and slice just before serving.
Yummy!
Oops! My twp sisters, both older and more ornery than I :-0 , have different versions of this recipe. I think this one is closer to my Moms. It really is an amazing little treat.
Chocolate Log (takes 24 hours)
Melt:
4 squares of semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp. of butter.
Add:
1 cup icing sugar
1tsp. vanilla
1 egg (well beaten)
¾ bag small marshmallows (colored or white)
1 and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans if you like )
Mix all together. Crush graham crackers (or buy graham cracker crumbs) then roll 1/3 of the mixture at a time in the graham cracker crumbs until covered to form ~1 and1/2” logs. Wrap each Log individually in saran wrap or foil.
Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Slice just before serving.
Hi Julie!
Nice photos and great job on this recipe! I made a little “video” about the Chocolate Salami that I prepared a while ago… It may help some of your readers to see visuals for the technique of forming the salami. Here is a link:
http://www.superkitchenmachine.com/2009/3113/thermomixchocolate-salami.html
(Don’t let the music scare you… it starts out funny and gets better after a few seconds!)
Seasonal Cheers to you!
Helene
Ooo I’ve never heard of chocolate salami!! How fun.
Thank you for this recipe! I wanted to make chocolate salamis to give as gifts this year, but didn’t like the recipes with raw egg yolks. Your re-work is great! I like the idea of a truffle mixture as a base. And it worked wonderfully! It sticks together, and tasted great.
I used different “mixings”. In one case, I crumbled ginger biscuits, and mixed them with almonds, pistachios, dried cranberries and dried cherries, and added just a bit of brandy. The other I used amaretti cookies, almonds, roasted hazelnuts, chopped dried apricots and dried cherries. Both got great reviews! I look forward to experimenting with other ingredients — maybe adding some spices, as well.
Many, many thanks!
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