Chocolate Salami DeLuxe

Deluxe Chocolate Salami for the Holidays... I am well aware that chocolate salami is a rich dessert as it is, even in its plain form, so why make it even more decadent by adding some extra goodies? Well, that's exactly why: for me, chocolate can never be TOO decadent... 

Here's how I tweaked a holiday classic for this Christmas.

Ingredients:

8 oz dark (85%) chocolate, broken in pieces

3 tablespoons cocoa

5 oz butter biscuits

5 oz Amaretti cookies

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/2-2/3 cup walnut pieces

zest of 1/2 medium orange

2-3 tablespoons rum extraxt, or Jamaican Rum or brandy

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

dried fruits: 4 dates, 4 apricots, 5 prunes (all chopped) and a handful of raisins

3 large eggs, at room temperature

3/4 cup fine sugar

4 oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, at room temperature

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the almonds and walnuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet, and bake them in the oven, until almonds began to toast (6-8 minutes). Set aside, and let cool completely. Melt the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over simmering water, blend in the cocoa, then set aside and let it cool.  In the meantime, crush the biscuits: put them in a large freezing bag and roll them with a rolling pin, but be careful not to turn them into dust. Crush the almonds and walnuts the same way. In a medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar together, then beat in the eggs one by one. Blend in the melted chocolate, the vanilla extract, rum extract (or Rum or Brandy), orange zest and the dried fruit, then fold in the crushed biscuits and nuts. Divide the mixture into three. Place one third of the mixture on a plastic wrap, then pulling the sides of the plastic wrap up, make a roughly salami shaped log. Cover it completely in plastic then firmly roll it up and down several times, to form a perfectly round sausage. Twist the two ends of the plastic wrap and tie it with a string. Repeat twice (to yield 3 logs). Refrigerate the logs until firm, for 1-2 hours. (Will keep in fridge for up to 2 weeks and in freezer for 2 months).

Note: you can roll the logs in powdered sugar (or walnut meal), to make it look more like a salami.