No-Bake Christmas Chocolate Salami

This festive no-bake Christmas chocolate salami is so simple to make but will really impress. The dessert is so adaptable, and you can throw in whatever you fancy.

I love Christmas time. All those sweet treats to make but give away. A proper little baker’s guilt free paradise. I’ve mentioned before how a special occasion is always a good excuse to make things for the kids I teach and I always go a little extra OTT at Christmas.

This no-bake Christmas chocolate salami was one of this year’s offerings. In fact, I’ve just come back from teaching a class where I took some of this in for them to enjoy. It’s safe to say that the sugar content had them dizzy with excitement, with many of them needing to be extracted from the ceiling. Sorry mums. Good job it is only once a year.

What is chocolate salami?

Chocolate Salami is an easy dessert made with only a handful of ingredients. An authentic recipe usually includes broken or crushed biscuits (cookies), butter and cocoa. Sometimes nuts and even alcohol are added. The ingredients are mixed together and rolled out into a log shape. Before serving, it is sprinkled with icing (powdered) sugar. Its obvious likeness to salami is how the no-bake dessert achieved its name.

The dessert seems to have originated in Italy, but is also popular in Portugal and other countries. You will find chocolate salami (or variations of it) all across Europe and Asia. There’s even something similar in Brazil. Although the recipes are alike, the desserts have different names depending on where they are eaten. Lazy cake in Jordan (made with Marie biscuits), mosaiko in Greece and duchess cake in Cyprus. Tiffin and fridge cake are also variations, as is my own recipe for Oreo and fudge chocolate slices.

My Christmas salami

My version of chocolate salami is a little different. Firstly, it has melted chocolate (both milk and dark) and no cocoa. I’ve also added brewed coffee, which is something I love in chocolate cakes and brownies, so thought it would work well in this. It did.

In the past I made a version with Swedish candy, but this time, I wanted to celebrate the festivities with a Christmas themed version. And no festive season treat would be complete without gingerbread, would it?

I also added a few M&Ms (for colour) and some homemade honeycomb was thrown in. Had I not been making this for kids, I would have also added dried cranberries to really get the whole Christmas thing going.

The wonderful thing about chocolate salami is that you can add whatever you like. Traditionally nuts and biscuits (cookies) are added but don’t limit yourself to just those. Be creative and throw whatever you like in.

Other Christmas candy recipes

Here are some more of my favourite festive treats:

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No-Bake Christmas Chocolate Salami

Ingredients

100g (3½ oz) dark chocolate
100g (3½ oz) milk chocolate
50g (¼ cup) butter
1 egg (medium)
50g (¼ cup) white sugar
20g (1 tbsp + 2 tsp) brown sugar
2 tbs brewed coffee (omit if you don't like coffee)

Salami contents (see notes):

165g (6 oz) M&Ms
20g (¾ oz) pepparkakor
20g (¾ oz) honeycomb

Instructions

Melt the chocolate along with the butter in a Bain Marie / double boiler.
Combine the egg, sugar and coffee and add to the melted chocolate mixture.
Stir regularly, and cook for around five minutes (just until the sugar melts).
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a while.
Prepare the contents of your salami (see notes) and add to a bowl.
Pour over the chocolate mixture and stir carefully, just until everything is combined.
Place the bowl in the fridge for around an hour to set a little.
Pour your mixture out onto a long piece of cling-film and gently shaped it so you have a long, rough "sausage".
Roll up the cling-film and gently squeeze, roll and push until your "salami" is smooth and round.
Twist the ends of the cling-film tightly, and place in the fridge for another hour.
Remove the salami and roll again to get it as round and smooth as possible.
Place back in the fridge and leave overnight.
When ready to serve, sprinkle icing sugar over a piece of baking paper.
Remove the clingfilm, and roll the salami in it, brushing off any excess. Cut into thick slices.
Keep at room temperature (popping it back in the fridge if you don't eat it all in one go). Enjoy!

Notes

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

You can use anything for your chocolate salami. This could be candy, dried fruit, nuts, or anything else you fancy.