Italian chocolate salami is a traditional no-bake dessert. Made with cookies, butter, chocolate, and nuts it’s a real delight
This Italian chocolate salami is a childhood dessert for many people. Every family has its own traditional recipe. Some recipes call for cocoa powder instead of chocolate, others use condensed milk. My favorite recipe for this salami is eggless (I don’t really like raw eggs in sweets and only add them to desserts in extreme cases).
Chocolate sausage takes pride of place in Italian and Portuguese traditional cuisine. This inexpensive, uncomplicated, and at first glance simple recipe is actually not as banal as it may seem. For example, in Portugal, wine is added to sweet salami – and it immediately turns into a dessert for real gourmets! And in Italy, this sweet is often enriched with candied fruit – and it acquires a new taste.
Chocolate salami is a perfect dessert
This recipe is perfect for any holiday and season. In winter, this decadent dessert is fantastic with a cup of warm tea. And in the summer heat, when turning on the oven and baking something is like jumping right into the fire, chocolate sausage is an ideal solution.
In addition, it is a great way to use leftover cookies and give them a “second life”.
By the way, Italian chocolate salami is a nice edible gift. Dust it generously with powdered sugar, tie it with a string and a fantastic gift for Christmas or any other holiday is ready!
What else can I add to this dessert?
I like to keep it simple and add only nuts.
However, if you want to add something else to this Italian chocolate salami, feel free to get as creative as you want and personalize the recipe to your liking. Try adding:
- Dried fruit (dried apricots, figs, dates).
- Raisins, dried cherries, or cranberries.
- Candied fruit.
- Marshmallows. This option is especially popular with children.
- Grated orange zest. It’s great in any chocolatey dessert.
- Spices (dry ground ginger, cinnamon, paprika). Paprika and chocolaty sweets are a heavenly combination!
- Alcohol. 1 tablespoon of rum, cognac, brandy, or your favorite liqueur (Amaretto, coffee liqueur, Marsala) to enhance the flavor.
- Amaretti cookies (replace some of the shortbread cookies in the recipe with them). They will make this dessert really luxurious.
- Chocolate drops. 2 tablespoons are enough to turn any chocolate salami into a mega chocolaty one.
What nuts are good for this recipe?
Feel free to add your favorite nuts: almonds, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, or peanuts. You can even combine different types together. I advise you to try this dessert with pistachios. This option is very original and unusual!
Useful tips for the best Italian chocolate salami
The recipe for this eggless chocolate salami is extremely simple. It’s a no-bake dessert, so it is very quick and easy to make. Follow a few useful tips and you will get the most delicious Italian dessert:
- Don’t replace butter with margarine. Margarine will spoil not only the texture of this sweet but also its taste.
- Crush the cookies unevenly. Don’t grind them in a blender! Broken cookies simulate pieces of fat in salami. Therefore, break them roughly to make the slices look like real sausage.
- You can use whatever cookies you prefer for this recipe: shortbread, tea cookies, or digestive ones. Don’t use brown biscuits because they will not create the necessary visual effect in the finished dessert.
- Take the chocolate salami log out of the fridge 5 minutes before serving, it will be much easier to slice it.
Ingredients
- 150g (5oz) butter at room temperature
- 60g (1/4 cup + 3Tbsp) icing sugar
- 250g (9oz) bitter chocolate
- 150g (5oz) shortbread cookies (any kind will do)
- 50g (2oz) hazelnuts (you can replace them with other nuts to your taste – it will be delicious with walnuts, pistachios, or almonds too)
Easy Italian chocolate salami recipe
Break the cookies
Mix the butter with powdered sugar (you can beat it with a mixer, but it’s not necessary at all)
Melt the chocolate in a microwave or a double boiler and add it to the butter with icing sugar
Add hazelnuts (whole) or other nuts and the crushed cookies
Mix and place on parchment paper. Shape it into a log (it’s okay if you can’t immediately form an even oblong salami because the mixture will be quite sticky)
Roll up the paper and wrap it. Adjust it well along the length (now it will be much easier to do it)
Place the chocolate salami in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Bon appetit!
How to serve a chocolate salami
Serve it cold at the end of a meal with a cup of coffee or tea. Chocolate sausage is great on its own, so just cut it into slices and treat your guests. Or pair it with:
- Ice cream. Vanilla or strawberry ice cream is ideal for a flavor contrast. But feel free to use any ice cream of your choice.
- A cup of milk. Milk and sweet sausage are a fantastic couple.
- Whipped cream.
- Add it to a dessert fruit platter.
FAQ
Since it’s an egg-free dessert, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week (wrap it well in plastic wrap or parchment paper).
Yes. Wrap the sausage tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can freeze it whole or in slices. Thaw it overnight in the fridge and dust it with powdered sugar before serving.
Looking for more no-bake desserts? Try our Homemade truffles and Edible pine cones. They taste like heaven!
Italian chocolate salami is a sweet masterpiece. So easy and delicious, it’s a must-try recipe for all chocolaty sweets lovers.
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Italian chocolate salami (eggless no-bake dessert)
Ingredients
- 5 oz (150g) butter at room temperature
- ¼ cup + 3Tbsp (60g) icing sugar
- 9 oz (250g) bitter chocolate
- 5 oz (150g) shortbread cookies (any kind will do)
- 2 oz (50g) hazelnuts (you can replace them with other nuts to your taste – it will be delicious with walnuts, pistachios or almonds too)
Instructions
- Break the cookies
- Mix the butter with icing sugar (you can beat it with a mixer, but it’s not necessary at all)
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave or a double boiler and add it to the butter with icing sugar
- Add hazelnuts (whole) or other nuts and the crushed cookies
- Mix and place on parchment paper. Shape it into a log (it's okay if you can't immediately form an even oblong salami because the mixture will be quite sticky)
- Roll up the paper and wrap it. Adjust it well along the length (now it will be much easier to do it)
- Place the chocolate salami in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Bon appetit!
- Roll the log in some powdered sugar (after it is refridgerated). It will look like a real salami.
Do you roll the log in powdered sugar? It looks like it in the picture, but isn’t listed in the directions. Would you do it after it is refridgerated?
Yes, at the end I often roll the finished chocolate salami in powdered sugar (after it’s refrigerated). This makes the dessert look like real salami. Thank you for reminding me. I will add this advice to the recipe directions now.