Looking for an easy treat for Valentine’s Day? You’ve got plenty of time to make this chocolate “salami” that requires no cooking, and comes together lickety-split, using ingredients you may already have in the house. I used amaretti cookies to simulate the bits of fat running through a real salami, but you could use graham crackers, digestive biscuits or even chocolate chip cookies.
Crumple them up and mix them in a bowl with nuts and dried fruit of your choice. I used pistachios, hazelnuts and dried cherries and it was a winning combination. But if you like almonds or walnuts instead, or dried cranberries or dried apricots, those would be delicious too..jpeg)
Melt some chocolate. You could use milk chocolate, but I prefer dark chocolate and used Hershey’s Special Dark chocolate. If you want to spring for a more expensive chocolate, go for it, but Hershey’s Special Dark won a blind taste test on America’s Test Kitchen years ago and I’ve been using it since then for nearly all my recipes requiring dark chocolate. It costs a lot less than the specialty brands, so that’s a nice plus too. Mix the melted chocolate with all the above ingredients and add some liqueur. It’s not strictly necessary, but it does add another layer of flavor.
Some recipes for chocolate salami ask you to add raw eggs, but I thought I’d try it without, since so many people have health concerns about using raw eggs in recipes. The risk is miniscule, but still, why take any risk, I thought. Next, dish out the chocolate into a log shape. It will be too soft to shape at this point, so put it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes, or until it firms.
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Once firm, roll it into a log shape to make it more “solid.”
Then roll into confectioner’s sugar to simulate the white “bloom” that appears on aged salami.
If you have some butcher’s string, tie it across the chocolate salami to mimic a real salami.
Slice it and watch the surprise when people realize it’s not really cured meat, but a delightful chocolate treat. Happy Valentine’s Day.
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Chocolate Salami
Ingredients
- 12 oz. chocolate, melted (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
- 1 stick (8 ounces) butter
- 1/2 cup crumpled amaretti cookies (or graham crackers or “digestive” biscuits)
- 1/2 cup pistachios
- 1/2 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped (or other nuts you prefer
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- 1 T. Cherry Marnier (or any liqueur you like)
- powdered sugar for exterior
- twine (optional)
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
- When it is nearly melted, add the butter in pieces and melt it.
- Chop the amaretti cookies and nuts (I left the pistachios whole) and put in a bowl with the cherries.
- Pour the melted chocolate over the nuts and cookies and add the liqueur.
- Place the bowl in the refrigerator for about 15-20 minutes until it firms up, but keep checking because you don’t want it so firm that it’s too hard to roll.
- Dish out the chocolate onto a piece of plastic or waxed paper.
- Roll into a log and place it back in the refrigerator until very firm, maybe an hour or so.
- When it’s firm, sprinkle powdered sugar all over.
- Tie up with butcher’s string if desired, and slice to serve.
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