Popsicle Society

Some recipes are simply desserts.

And some recipes are tiny time machines.

For me, Salam de Biscuiți is definitely the second one. This is a Romanian sweet we used to make during hot summer days, when we wanted something chocolatey and comforting, but absolutely nobody wanted to turn on the oven.

A wise decision, if you ask me.

In Romanian, it is called Salam de Biscuiți, which literally means biscuit salami. Don’t worry, there is no actual salami involved. The name comes from its shape and from the way the biscuit pieces look once you slice it.

After a little research, I found that similar no-bake chocolate biscuit desserts exist in many countries. Italy has salame al cioccolato, Portugal has salame de chocolate, Greece has mosaiko or kormos, Turkey has mozaik pasta, Lithuania has tinginys, and Brazil has palha italiana. In the US, it is not really a traditional American dessert, but it is known and shared as chocolate salami, often as an Italian-inspired no-bake treat.

Different countries, different names, same brilliant idea: biscuits, cocoa, butter, and very little effort.

Exactly my kind of summer recipe.

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Ingredients:

• 200 g plain cookies
• 2 tbsp / 30 g sugar
• 75 g unsalted butter
• 45 g dark cocoa powder
• 120 ml milk
• A pinch of salt
• 50 g raisins
• 30 ml rum

A Note About the Cookies

For this recipe, you need simple, plain cookies — the kind you would normally enjoy with tea or coffee.

They should be dry enough to absorb the chocolate mixture, but not too rich or buttery. Think tea biscuits, Marie biscuits, Petit Beurre-style biscuits, or plain butter cookies.

Avoid shortbread, oatmeal cookies, cream-filled cookies, or anything too soft or too rich, because they will change the texture.

I used Leibniz Original Butter Cookies, and they worked beautifully.

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Instructions

Start by placing the raisins in a small bowl and pouring the rum over them. Let them soak for about 10–15 minutes, while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Place the cookies in a sealing bag and close it well. Using a rolling pin, gently crush the cookies. Be careful not to break the bag, unless you enjoy cleaning cookie crumbs from every corner of your kitchen.

You don’t want to turn them into powder. You need a mix of crumbs and small pieces, because those biscuit pieces are what give the salami its lovely texture when sliced.

In a small pan, but big enough to add the cookies later, add the sugar, cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, and the milk. Mix everything well, then place the pan on the stove for about 2 minutes, just enough to warm the milk and dissolve the sugar.

This is a recipe made especially for summer, when it is hot and you don’t want to turn on the oven. Yes, you still need the stove, but only for literally 2 minutes. I believe that is acceptable.

Remove the pan from the heat, add the unsalted butter cut into small pieces, and stir until completely melted.

Add the crushed cookies and mix until they are well coated in the chocolate mixture.

Then add the soaked raisins together with the rum they were soaking in, and mix everything well.

Place the mixture in the middle of a piece of cling wrap/plastic wrap and shape it into a log, like a salami. Yes, I know it does not look very appetizing at this stage. But believe me, it is well worth it.

Wrap it tightly in the cling wrap, twist the ends, and try to make it as round and compact as possible. Tie knots at both ends to keep the shape.

Place it in the fridge for at least 3 hours, until it hardens.

I know. This is the hardest part.

To serve, remove the cling wrap, cut the biscuit salami into slices, and enjoy.

You can also roll it in shredded coconut or dust it with cocoa powder before slicing, or simply enjoy it as it is. I kept mine simple, because sometimes simple is already perfect.

Nutrition estimate

Serving size: 1 slice
Recipe yield: 14 slices

• Calories: ~140 kcal
• Carbohydrates: ~17–18 g
• Fat: ~6–7 g
• Protein: ~2 g
• Sugar: ~7–8 g

These values are approximate and can vary depending on the type of plain cookies, cocoa powder, milk, and rum used.

Small note: because the rum is added with the raisins and not cooked off, it still adds a few calories. Skipping the rum would reduce the recipe by about 65–70 kcal total, so around 5 kcal less per slice.

For a Kid-Friendly Version

I used rum because we don’t have children around, but if you are making this for kids, simply skip the rum.

You can soak the raisins in warm milk, warm water, or even orange juice instead.

Final Thoughts

Every bite of this brings me back to my childhood. It is absolutely a sweet memory.

The other day I was thinking that I wanted to make a recipe for the blog, but something suitable for a hot summer day. Something sweet, easy, and most importantly, something that did not require turning on the oven.

And this was it.

For this Salam de Biscuiți, you only need a few simple ingredients, 2 minutes on the stove, and a little patience while it chills in the fridge.

The dark cocoa gives it such a decadent flavour, the biscuits make it perfectly textured, and the rum-soaked raisins add that little extra something.

No oven.

No complicated steps.

No drama.

Just a simple Romanian childhood dessert that melts in your mouth and tastes like home.

Until next time,

Stay healthy and don’t forget to have fun in the kitchen.