I found out that yesterday was World Chocolate Day (and proceeded to celebrate accordingly). And whilst I consider Chocolate Day to be every day, I couldn’t let this celebration go by without a chocolate recipe on my blog. Chocolate salami may sound weird, but it’s just a name. There’s actually no meat in it and is in fact vegetarian-friendly. This easy recipe will make you the talk of the party at the next house party you go to and everyone will want to know your secret.
Salame de chocolate, as it’s called in Portugal, is commonly found in cafés and grocery stores across Portugal. It is a traditional Portuguese sweet, but apparently is also traditional in Italy! Even though it’s relatively easy to find, the best chocolate salamis are, naturally, home-made. Here’s my mom’s recipe, which I love!
Ingredients
1 dark or semi-sweet chocolate bar (200 g / 7 oz)
1 tablespoon butter
1 large egg
4 tablespoons granulated sugar (plus optional extra for decorating)
2/3 of a pack of Maria cookies
a splash of milk
a splash of Port wine, Licor Beirão, or – if you prefer to keep it alcohol-free, a dash of lemon juice
Almonds (optional)
Instructions
1. Break up the Maria cookies into small pieces (around the size of your fingernails) into a bowl. It doesn’t matter if you get some ground cookies at the bottom. Set to one side.
2. Melt the chocolate bar (or the equivalent in chocolate chips like I did here) with the butter in a bain marie on the stove. Stir occasionally.
3. In the meantime, beat the egg and sugar for a minute to make sure they’re well mixed. Set to one side.
4. Once the chocolate and butter have completely melted, add in the Port wine/Licor Beirão/lemon juice, mix it in, and let that cool. Once it has cooled, stir in the egg and sugar mixture little by little, in order to make sure the heat from the chocolate doesn’t cook the egg. Do this until it’s all mixed in together.
5. Add in the broken Maria cookies slowly to the mixture, stirring them in. If the mixture has gotten too stiff, add a spoonful of milk (or two or three) to the mixture so that you can mix the cookies in properly. The mixture should be a little stiff, so please don’t over the milk. Optional: mix in some almond pieces at this point.
6. Set out a sheet of aluminum foil and place the chocolate cookie mixture in a long pile. It’s ok if it’s a little chunky. Next, pick up the side of the foil and start shaping it into a salami shape, making sure to squeeze it together tightly. You’ll see that the size reduces by half! At this point, you can also sprinkle more granulated sugar all around your salami (but I honestly don’t think it needs it!). Wrap the foil all around the salami and put it in the freezer.
7. Let it freeze for a few hours. Once it’s ready, cut it into slices, straight through the foil, place on a plate, serve, and enjoy! If you don’t eat it all in one go, store in the fridge.
Have you tried chocolate salami before? Please share your thoughts, suggestions or alternative recipes below!
I like hazelnut rather than almonds in my salami and a little cocoa powder added to the milk and or licquer gives it a little more chocolate oomph.
I’ll have to try that!