Procedure

• Take the biscuits and break them into small pieces. To avoid making a mess, break them in a freezer bag, being careful not to break it or the crumbs will go everywhere.

  The biscuits should be in thin flakes of 1/8 inch or you won’t achieve a salami effect, but not too small or you risk turning them into flour.

  

• In the large bowl, pour the eggs and sugar, use a spoon to mix and blend the ingredients well until the sugar is completely dissolved in the eggs.

  Be careful to mix the mixture without whipping or beating it until it becomes frothy.

  

• If you want to pasteurize the eggs, you need to prepare the classic zabaione, so the eggs will reach 144°F. Put the yolks with the sugar in a bowl over a bain-marie following the instructions found here.

  

• Add the cocoa to the egg and sugar mixture and start mixing until you almost have a dense cream. Slowly pour in the vegetable oil (sunflower or peanut) and mix the ingredients well.

  Pour the digestive biscuits into the bowl and combine them well so they absorb the eggs, sugar, and butter. In the end, you will have a lumpy mixture like the one in the photo.

  

• The result depends greatly on the biscuits, if you’ve crumbled many, it will tend to be drier, if they’re whole and less grainy, more liquid.

  To achieve the perfect consistency, you can adjust it with cocoa to make it drier or with a splash of vegetable oil if too dry.

  For a gluten-free light chocolate salami, simply use gluten-free biscuits and you’re done; your chocolate salami for celiacs is ready.

  

• Pour the mixture onto a sheet of parchment paper about 20-24 inches long, positioned lengthwise. With the help of the parchment paper and your hands, give the dough a circular shape, slightly elongated at the two ends to resemble a salami!

  

• Shape it like a salami with your hands by flattening the mixture.

  

• Why does chocolate salami crumble or break? Because you haven’t compacted the mixture well. To avoid this, I tie a knot at both ends as in the picture below, you need to form a well-stretched giant candy.

  

• Place in the refrigerator to rest for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight to allow the dough to compact well.

  Be careful not to defrost it all or you will have to eat it! The salami can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days or in the freezer for 1 month, just be sure to close it well in the parchment paper and then in a freezer bag.

  

• You can serve it on a cutting board like a real salami… if you’re in the mood for comfort food, prepare a Lodigiana cream based on mascarpone.

  To serve the dessert, remove it from the refrigerator 5-10 minutes before serving and slice it like a real salami.

  Your butterless chocolate salami with cocoa powder is ready!