Ever tried a slice of this awesome chocolate dessert? Chocolate Salami is an easy, fast, kid-friendly and no-bake dessert that Italians eat for merenda – the afternoon snack. I’ve tested a few versions, but the one I like best is made with dark chocolate, hazelnuts and crushed tea biscuits.
What you need to make Salame al Cioccolato
INGREDIENTS
- 200 grams of plain tea biscuits / cookies* + 60 grams to add if the mixture comes out too soft
- 200 grams of dark chocolate**
- 50 grams of Demerara, Panela or Muscovado sugar
- 50 grams of hazelnuts
- 2 cage-free eggs
- I used a little less than two packages of Ülker tea biscuits* (found ’em in an ethnic store nearby) and 1 bar and 1/2 of Divine 70% bittersweet chocolate** (Central Market).
TOOLS
- Small pot and a heatproof bowl (for the bain-marie) – a heatproof cereal cup or a pyrex glass bowl are great choices
- Meat tenderizer (or rolling pin, or similar) and a cutting board (to crush the cookied)
- Chopper or food processor
- Large bowl
- Whisk
- Parchment paper, aluminum foil
Chocolate Salame Step by Step
- Melt the chocolate until smooth in a bain-marie (a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of simmering water; the bowl must not touch the water).
- Roughly crush the cookies (you can use the smooth side of a meat tenderizer). They need to be rubble, not dust.
- Chocolate should be ready. Remove from heat and use a whisk to mix.
- Crumble hazelnuts in a chopper.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs, add the hazelnuts along with the warm chocolate. Lastly, add the cookies and mix gently but throughly until smooth.
- Taste it. If you notice that the chocolate is too much compared to the crushed biscuit, crumble more biscuits and add them to the mixture.
- Transfer the mixture to a sheet of parchment paper and mould the mixture into a fat salame-like log. Use the salami like you would use a rolling pin and roll, roll until you get to the salame shape.
- Keep the salame in the parchment paper wrapping and double-wrap it snuggly with foil.
- Put it in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.
- Before serving, massage it with powdered sugar (use a pastry brush to brush away the excess sugar) and string it up to give that actual salami look.
- Cut 1/2 inch slices and serve.
If there’s any left, you can wrap it again in foil and put it back into the refrigerator. The salame can be frozen for up to one month. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing.
ps. how much do you know about Italian salame, salamelle and salsiccia?
did you know that salame is actually pronounced ‘sah-lah-meh‘ not salami in Italian?
Would you believe I am Sicilian but I have never tasted this, and castagnaccio too. Looks very good, brava!
Look at you! You’ve got to try it – it’s DELICIOUS and easy-easy to make. I’ll have to make cannoli sometimes.
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