A Valentine's Day Recipe

Salame di Cioccolato

The direct translation of Salame di Cioccolato leaves a bit to be desired (Chocolate Salami) and raises some questions but this simple, chocolatey dessert will for sure appease anyone’s sweet tooth and satisfy the chocolate lovers in your world.
 
First off, this is not a sausage filled with chocolate. The name refers to the similarity of the dessert to salami with its shape and the addition of plain cookies/biscuits that visually resemble the fat that you see in the cross-section of many Italian salami.
 
Salami di Cioccolato is an incredibly popular dessert in Italy, as well as Portugal, and calls for only a few simple ingredients.
 
You will need wax/parchment paper to mold the dessert into shape and Laura typically prepares this one day before serving and leaves it in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours to firm.  
 
This would pair well with a dessert wine like Vin Santo, but it’s also lovely with our Podalirio Merlot. 
 
Laura shared her recipe during a recent Facebook Live and as always, you can see the video on our FB page. 

See Video

INGREDIENTS - Serves 6

200 g dry biscuits/cookies (like vanilla wafers or even animal crackers)
100 g white sugar
150 g unsalted butter
3 tbsp bitter cocoa powder
¼ cup liqueur (Marsala, Curacao or Vin Santo)
Kiwi, strawberries or red currants for garnish
Powdered sugar (if desired for presentation)
 

1. Soften the butter at room temperature. Once softened, blend together with the sugar using a hand mixer.
2. Once the sugar is dissolved and mixed well with the butter, add the cocoa powder.
3. Take the cookies/biscuits and break into small pieces.
4. Add the ¼ cup of liqueur into the butter, sugar and cocoa mixture and continue to mix.
5. Add the crumbled-up cookies/biscuits. These you can mix in using a spoon.
6. Lay your wax/parchment paper down flat on the counter.
7. Spoon your mixture on top of the paper and then start to mold it into the shape of a salami/log (recommend using rubber gloves). Once the mixture is molded into shape and is nice and compact, roll it up snuggly with the wax/parchment paper and twist up the ends of the wax paper to close.
8. Put into the refrigerator for at least 8-12 hours.
9. Take out of the refrigerator and unwrap. Cut into 1/2 inch slices, plate and garnish with fruit (kiwi, strawberry or red currants) and dust with powdered sugar (if desired).

Buon Appetito!