This post may contain affiliate links, please see the privacy policy for details.
A famous no bake treat all over Italy, Italian chocolate salami is a delicious combination of shortbread cookies, Amaretto liqueur and chocolate. It’s a delicious dessert which makes a nice edible Christmas gift. This chocolate log is made to resemble salami and it is known as salame di cioccolato in Italy.
Every Italian family has their own version of this chocolate salami recipe, using milk or dark chocolate, raw eggs or milk. Some like to add toasted nuts like hazelnuts or pistachios too. Amaretto or rum add even more decadent, festive flavor.
Fans of sweet treats might also want to sample some bomboloni (Italian style donuts), pie iron pineapple upside down cakes or any of these amazing cookie recipes.
Italian Chocolate Salami Ingredients
In this version of this chocolate sausage Italian dessert, you will use simple ingredients. You need eggs, sugar, cream, chocolate, salted butter (or unsalted butter if preferred), Amaretto liqueur, salt, and shortbread cookies. Powdered sugar (icing sugar) for dusting is option but looks good.
How to Make this Delicious Dessert
There are just a few simple steps to make this delicious chocolate salami. First put some water in a double boiler and then add the top. If you don’t have one you can use a bowl over a small pan instead. Add the egg yolks, cream and sugar in there and mix while heating the mixture up.
Remove it from the heat and mix in the chocolate chips until they melt. Mix in the butter, salt and Amaretto next, and then let it cool.
Snap the shortbread cookies into pieces and pour the melted chocolate mixture over them once it’s cooled down.
When it’s set a bit (but not too firm) you can shape the chocolate log. If preferred, you can make two smaller log shapes instead of one big one. Maybe you want to prepare one to give as an edible Christmas gift and one for your family to enjoy over the holidays. Else just make one big one.
On a cutting board or wooden board, put the mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap, cling wrap or a large piece of greaseproof paper and roll it up to make a chocolate log shape. Keep rolling it because this helps get rid of air bubbles.
When your Italian chocolate salami is chocolate log shaped you can refrigerate it for a few hours to fully set.
After this you can dust it with powder sugar to make it look even more like salami and even wrap twine or a piece of string around it if you like, for the full effect.
Origin of Chocolate Salami
Are you curious about the history of this no bake delicious dessert with a sausage shape? It is believed the original recipe is from Sicily originally and was also prepared for a Passover treat in Bologna. There are plenty of different recipes for it today.
Chocolate salami log (Salame di Cioccolato) was featured in an Italian cookbook aimed at kids called ‘Manuale di Nonna Papera’ which means Grandma Duck’s Recipes back in the 1970s.
Chocolate Salame Variations
There are different variations of this fun dessert. Some recipes use Amaretto liqueur while others feature grappa, brandy or rum instead. You will find some that use cocoa powder or you can try out white chocolate instead of the dark chocolate. If the dark chocolate is too bitter you can even substitute in a some milk chocolate to sweeten it a bit.
Instead of shortbread cookies, you can try rich tea biscuits, vanilla tea biscuits, vanilla wafers, butter cookies, amaretti cookies, Lotus Biscoff cookies, or digestive cookies. Any dry cookies or crunchy biscuits will work for this no bake chocolate dessert. If you are looking for a gluten free version, just use gluten free cookies. You may like the addition of some orange zest if you are using a rum or brandy.
Italian Chocolate Salami FAQs
You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 6 days, either whole or in slices. Keep it in an airtight container so it won’t dry out. Another option is to freeze it (again, either whole or in slices) for a month and then thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.
Moderation is the key here. Roll it too loosely and it will fall apart. Roll it too tight and it will split at the seams. If you can get it tight enough to hold its chocolate log shape, that’s perfect.
Yes, just use gluten free cookies in it.
Italian Chocolate Salami Recipe
Italian Chocolate Salami – Salame di Cioccolato
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- ½ Cup granulated sugar
- 5 Tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 11 oz dark chocolate chips
- ¾ Cup salted butter, 6 ounces, softened
- 2 Tablespoons liqueur, amaretto
- ¼ Teaspoon salt
- 10 Ounces shortbread cookies
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Fill the bottom of a double boiler (or a small pot) about ¼ full with water, then in the top of the double boiler (or a heat safe bowl seated on top of the small pot) mix together the egg yolks, heavy cream, and sugar until smooth.
- Heat the mixture over medium or medium high heat while whisking continuously until the mixture is hot.
- Once hot, remove from the heat and immediately add in the dark chocolate. Slowly stir the chocolate in, allowing it to melt.
- When the chocolate has melted add the butter, stir until combined, then add the salt and amaretto and stir again.
- Set the chocolate mixture aside to cool down.
- Break apart the cookies into chunks and place in a large bowl. When the chocolate has cooled to the touch, pour into the cookies and gently mix together. Let this mixture rest until it becomes thick like pudding, but not hardened.
- At this point you can choose to make one large or two small salami, if you choose to do two you will do the following steps with 1/2 of the mixture at a time.
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter, scoop the mixture into a log on the plastic wrap.
- Fold one long edge of the plastic wrap over the top of the chocolate and line it up with the other long edge. Gently press the plastic wrap onto the chocolate and form it roughly into a log. Try to get as many air bubbles out as you can. Use the open ends of the plastic wrap as handles and roll the log over the excess long edge off plastic wrap. Then continue to lift the log up slightly and roll forward again, each time rolling in the same direction. Soon the log will begin to tighten and form on its own. Once it is tight and firm, set on a tray with the seam side down and place in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours.
- When ready to serve, unwrap the log and dust with powdered sugar, use your fingers or a pastry brush to cover the whole salami. You can also wrap the salami with butcher’s twine to give it a fun aesthetic!
- Slice and serve, store leftover slices in an airtight container with parchment between the layers.
Notes
Nutrition
Italian chocolate salami will make a wonderful edible Christmas gift this holiday season. It’s a no bake recipe and looks just like meat salami but is a chocolate, crushed cookies, Amaretto liqueur, and almond confection. It has a delicious flavor and great when eaten with a cup of coffee or some hot chocolate.
Chocolate salami Italian style is one of my favorite no bake desserts! Beloved all over Italy, you should find it easy to rustle up your own version of this cylindrical shape sweet treat this Christmas. Salame de chocolate may have the physical resemblance of a meat product, but it is a rich dessert and a beloved traditional Italian recipe.
Other Recipes You Will Love
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends too! 🙂
I love how this looks like salami but is so sweet and gorgeous.
I love this recipe!