Chocolate salami is a no‑bake dessert made of chocolate, butter, crushed tea biscuits and nuts, rolled into a log and sliced to resemble salami. It’s rich yet simple, and loved across Europe and beyond.
The dessert likely originated in Italy or Portugal in the 17th–18th centuries, when home cooks used humble pantry staples like cocoa, biscuits, butter and a splash of rum or brandy. During this same period, Sephardi Jewish trade networks played a vital role in bringing chocolate to Europe. After the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition, many settled in the New World, where cacao was grown, while others dispersed across Europe or converted to Catholicism and remained in Iberia. This network of Jewish and converso traders helped transport cacao from the Americas to European markets, laying the groundwork for chocolate’s spread and popularity.
While most modern recipes use real chocolate, some versions, particularly those from Turkey and Greece (where it is known as Mozaik Pasta or mosaiko, for the mosaic look of the crushed cookies), are still made with cocoa powder, as the earliest recipes were. That simple, cocoa‑based style is closest to the one I grew up eating in Israel. My mother made an unforgettable version: A rich mixture of cocoa, margarine and crushed biscuits wrapped around a “marzipan” filling of shredded coconut mixed with sugar and almond extract. It was a humble confection, popular in Israel in the 1970s before the country’s cuisine became more varied and sophisticated.
That same mixture of cocoa, margarine and biscuits is also the base for the beloved Israeli kids’ treat known as “kadorei shokolad” (chocolate balls), a recipe still popular today. I have to admit, despite the many decadent versions of chocolate salami out there, this simple cocoa‑based one remains my favorite, because it carries the flavors of my childhood.
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Chocolate salami is easy to adapt. Add nuts or chopped dried fruit and it becomes a perfect Tu Bishvat dessert. Use vegan substitutes to make it pareve, or swap in kosher‑for‑Passover biscuits to serve it at the seder. A splash of brandy or rum adds depth, but even the simplest version — cocoa, biscuits and butter — can be something extraordinary and all that one needs in the hot days of summer.
The following recipe includes two versions — one bittersweet, strong chocolate flavor, and one for the more childish palate (like mine) with milk chocolate. Both are delicious.
Notes:
- The bittersweet chocolate salami can very easily be adapted to be pareve or kosher for Passover (or both). Use vegan dark chocolate instead of a dairy one, use vegan butter and your favorite nut milk (or even water instead of the milk). For Passover, use kosher for Passover cookies.
- Keep salami wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Israelis Are Obsessed With This Easy No-Bake Dessert
Chocolate salami is a no‑bake dessert made of chocolate, butter, crushed tea biscuits and nuts, rolled into a log and sliced to resemble salami. It’s rich yet simple, and loved across Europe and beyond.
- Total Time: 3 hours + 10 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4-6
Ingredients
For bittersweet chocolate salami:
- 3½ oz bittersweet chocolate, preferably 70% cacao
- ¼ cup sugar
- 5 oz Petit Beurre or Israeli tea biscuit cookies
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft
- 4 Tbsp milk
- ¼ cup shelled pistachio, toasted or raw
- 3–4 Tbsp powdered sugar, for coating
For milk chocolate salami:
- 5 oz milk chocolate
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 6½ oz Petit Beurre or Israeli tea biscuit cookies
- 3 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, soft
- 3 Tbsp milk
- ¼ cup shelled pistachio, toasted or raw
- 3–4 Tbsp powdered sugar, for coating
Instructions
- Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a bain-marie (double boiler) or melt in the microwave in short intervals, stirring between each. Once smooth, whisk in the sugar until dissolved. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and let cool for a few minutes.
- Place the tea biscuits in a plastic bag, seal it and gently crush them with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer into roughly ½‑inch chunks. Avoid crushing them into crumbs — you want visible pieces for texture. Set aside.
- Add the cocoa powder, butter and milk to the melted chocolate and mix until fully incorporated. Stir in the crushed biscuits and pistachios until evenly coated.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper or plastic wrap on the counter (about 12×16 inches). Scoop the chocolate mixture onto the center, wrap tightly and roll into a log about 1½ inches in diameter. Place the wrapped log on a tray or baking sheet to help maintain its shape and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar onto a baking sheet. Unwrap the chilled chocolate salami, roll it in the sugar to coat and shake off the excess. Slice into rounds and serve cold.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes + 3 hours chill time
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Quick
- Cuisine: Israeli
Where do you buy the tea biscuits from
Many supermarkets carry them, but if not they are available on amazon in various flavors and pack sizes. This is a link to a single pack of vanilla flavored. https://www.amazon.com/Kedem-Vanilla-Tea-Biscuit-4-2/dp/B0011BPNX6
I used to see Petit Beurre biscuits on the top shelf at Raley’s, and wondered why the cookies seemed so familiar, now I know!
Kedem tea biscuits in any supermarket in the international section near Jewish items.
Hi.
Yum. Had it last night at a friend’s place.
I would like to make it pareve.
Instead of butter can I use oil or margarine? If so, quantities please.
Is soy or almond milk a better substitute?
Thanks in advance, Susie
You can substitute with the same measurement of margarine and any non-dairy milk you like.