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
8 oz. dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
5 Digestive biscuits, roughly chopped
3/4 cup golden raisinsicing sugar, for rolling
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.
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