Salam de Biscuiți
Salam de Biscuiți·(sah-LAHM deh bees-koo-EETS)
Dulcegării (Mamaie’s Bakery & Sweets)
When fine chocolate was a myth and heavy cream a distant rumor, resourceful Romanian grandmothers figured out how to make magic out of subsidized rations. They boiled basic cocoa, butter, and milk into a rich syrup, folded it over hand-broken biscuits, and spiked the whole thing with an unapologetic hit of dark rum. Flecked with chewy Turkish delight and earthy toasted walnuts, the result is a sliceable, texturally brilliant mosaic. It’s a completely unpretentious, incredibly practical no-bake dessert that tastes exactly like home.
Before you start
Break the biscuits manually.
Never let a food processor near these cookies. Snapping them by hand into irregular, almond-sized chunks ensures the dessert maintains its vital crunch and iconic mosaic cross-section.
Ingredients
- Maria cookies or plain animal crackers14 oz
- English walnuts1 cup
- Turkish delight or soft fruit jelly candies1 cup
- whole milk1 cup
- granulated sugar3/4 cup
- unsalted butter10 tbsp
- unsweetened cocoa powder1/2 cup
- dark rum2 tbsp
- pure vanilla extract1 tsp
- kosher salt1/4 tsp
- golden or dark raisins1/2 cup
- unsweetened desiccated coconut1/2 cup
Method
- 01
Combine the dry ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, toss together the broken biscuits, chopped walnuts, and diced Turkish delight until well distributed.
- 02
Brew the chocolate base.
Combine the milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, then add the cubed butter and stir until melted.
- 03
Thicken the cocoa matrix.
Whisk in the cocoa powder until completely smooth and glossy, then let the liquid bubble and boil for exactly one to two minutes to cook out the raw flavor.
- 04
Aromatize and let it rest.
Pull the pan off the heat and stir in the rum, vanilla, salt, and raisins, then step away and let the syrup cool for ten minutes.
- 05
Fold the mixture together.
Pour the warm chocolate syrup over the biscuit mixture and fold gently with a spatula until every piece is coated, then let it sit in the bowl for another ten minutes so the biscuits can drink up the excess liquid.
- 06
Shape the salami logs.
Lay out two large sheets of plastic wrap, sprinkle a line of desiccated coconut down the center of each, and divide the chocolate mixture into two rough logs directly on the wrap.
- 07
Compress and cure.
Roll the plastic wrap tightly around the logs, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper to compress the mixture and force out any air, then chill in the fridge for at least four hours before slicing.
Notes
Mind the temperature.
If you pour boiling chocolate syrup over the biscuits, you’ll cook the starch and turn the whole thing to an unappealing mush. Always let the syrup rest and cool slightly before combining.
Sticky situations.
Turkish delight clings stubbornly to a knife blade. Dust your knife lightly with powdered sugar or cornstarch to make chopping it a breeze.
From Cook Romanian in America.