Author Notes
“This weird and perhaps not-so-attractive thing, is a delight and you’d be crazy not to make some quickly !”
Of course, this isn’t my invention, this is an Italian and Portuguese holiday sweet, often called “chocolate salami” … I simply re-adapted my chocolate and biscuit blocks (see recipe at www.icookstuff.com) for the holiday season to include a mixture of nuts, dried fruit and candied fruit as well as holiday spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and the ginger. The principle is simple, I replaced the 200 grams of biscuits with an equal mix of 50 grams each of biscuits and all those fruity, nutty and sweet extras. I also replaced the heavy cream and syrup with butter because lowering the amount of biscuits means that the extra creamy liquid will not be absorbed by them, so butter was a better and firmer alternative for this drier and more compact version. Anyways, for 200 grams of chocolate, you use an equal amount (200 grams) of any mix of nuts, candied fruit, dried fruit and biscuits you have handy and spices that remind you of the holiday season and of course, good quality dark chocolate. The rolling is much easier than you think, the icing sugar coating is easy too, the tying with butcher’s twine is a little more complicated but will make others say “WOW”. My only regret is that I didn’t double the recipe to make shorter versions as individual holiday gifts … But knowing me, I’ll make 8 more shorter sausages tonight ! Happy Holidays to all … :) —Georgios Tsaklidis (g-tsak from icookstuff)
Ingredients
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1 cup
dark chocolate (70% cocoa) - 200 grams
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1/4 cup
sweet butter - 60 grams
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1/4 cup
speculoos or digestives or ginger snap cookies - 50 grams
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1/4 cup
dried fruits (figs, apricots, cranberries) - 50 grams
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1/4 cup
nuts (roasted almonds, pistachios, walnuts) - 50 grams
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1/4 cup
candied fruit (orange rind, cherries, ginger) - 50 grams
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2 tablespoons
cognac or brandy or rhum
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1 tablespoon
vanilla extract
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1 teaspoon
cinnamon powder
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1/4 teaspoon
ground nutmeg powder
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1/4 teaspoon
ground cloves powder
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1/8 teaspoon
ginger powder
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2-4 tablespoons
icing sugar (for coating)
Directions
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chop the dried fruits (if large) into 1 cm x 1 cm pieces and mix with cognac and vanilla extract and set aside
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break up the cookies into smaller pieces and set aside
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chop candied fruit into smaller pieces and set aside
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grind and/or grate and/or crush the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and set aside
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in a double-boiler or bain-marie, melt the chocolate with the butter (both cut into smaller pieces) until melted and smooth
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add the ground spices, dried fruits, nuts, candied fruit and cookies to the melted chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until everything is well-coated and let cool 10 minutes
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lay out 2 large pieces of cling wrap (about 30 cm long) and spoon chocolate mixture in a log shape on each piece
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grab one side of the cling wrap and start tightly rolling the mixture into a log shape, about 15-20 cm long X 4 cm wide, even it out and pinch and twist the ends tightly too
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note: to retain the sausage shape, use empty paper towel cardboard tubes and slip them inside and place in the freezer for 1-2 hours minimum
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when very firm, unwrap the chocolate sausages, coat with icing sugar, brush excess off and tie with string to resemble traditional sausages and store in the refrigerator, wrapped in parchment paper
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note : the desert is quick to make, even the rolling … tying is tricky but I used 2 short metal mini-skewers on each end and then tied the string to one end and created the twine loops and tied the string to the second end to finish it !
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let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing into 1,5 cm rounds/slices.
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note : I suggest doubling the recipe to make more chocolate sausages (even shorter ones) and freezing them in the cling wrap until needed. The icing sugar coating and tying could be completed later, as needed.
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