Happy Easter - Bacon Bark and Chocolate Salami

Instead of buying eggs and bunnies for people we visited over the Easter period, I thought it'd be nice to make people something chocolatey. I've tried a multitude of truffles over the years, with varied success and didn't feel too keen to risk a failure. My last effort didn't go so well, the lemon white chocolate wouldn't set hard enough to roll into balls. It did, however, make the most delicious macaroon filling. I also find them really fiddly, something a bit more straight-forward seemed the go.

First on the menu - Whisky Caramel, Marshmallow and Bacon Bark. I first found this about year ago I guess, through pinterest on endless simmer and gave it a shot. It was a bit of effort, but delicious. And seeing as my brother and husband kept 'innocently' mentioning it when I said I wanted to make something chocolatey for presents, it seemed time to make another batch. I followed the linked recipe above almost 100% both times. Except Australian bacon isn't the same as American bacon. It doesn't 'crumble' as well, so I diced it finely before cooking. I also used normal marshmallows instead of mini. I'm guessing the gelatin content or something is therefore reduced? Not sure. It still sets pretty well if you keep it in the fridge. If you give this a go and it's too sweet, try eating it with ice cream!

And secondly, I made Alejandra from Always Order Dessert's Orange Chocolate Dessert Salami. I have Eastern European heritage, and grew up eating salamis and such, so when I saw this recipe on her blog, I knew I would be making it for my family at some point! I used shortbread and a combination of walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts. I also used a mandarin liqueur (it seems we'd drunk the Cointreau!). Make sure you check out her recipe for ideas of other flavour combinations.

As a gift combination, they work awesomely. The dark bitter salami dotted with delicious crunchy bits stands in stark contrast to the chewy, almost over-the-top sweetness of the bark. It's also fun seeing people come to terms with bacon on their dessert - then offering them chocolate salami!

I do caution you on a few things making these. One - watch the caramel! It goes from 'not quite caramel' to 'burnt' very quickly. Two - put the marshmallow pot into hot water immediately. Three - keep lots for yourself! They're seriously amazing!

Bacon Bark
450g milk chocolate

Whiskey Marshmallow
1 packet Pascall's Marshmallows (I put the brand, because I can't remember how much it weighed)
1/4 cup whiskey (I used Jack Daniels)

Bacon bits
450g bacon, finely diced
4 tbsps sugar syrup
1 egg white
1/4 tsp finely ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne

Caramel sauce
1 cup sugar
4 tbsp water
4 tbsp butter
7 tbsp cream

Because of the time involved, I start making the bacon crumble first. At the 'place in oven' stage, I then make the caramel, to allow adequate cooling time for that, too.

Cook finely diced bacon and set aside to cool completely. This is important, because otherwise you scramble the egg white. Heat oven to 150C. Toss the bacon bits through the sugar syrup, and pass through a strainer to remove excess syrup. While straining, beat egg white in a bowl until foamy, whisk in the black pepper and cayenne. Add in bacon and stir well to coat. Spread this bacon mix over a baking tray and put in the oven for 30 minutes or so until crispy. Remove and cool.

To make caramel, add sugar and water in a pan over low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high, every so often, swirl the pot to keep mixture moving, but do not stir. The mixture will then start turning a nice caramel colour, when this happens, remove from the heat and add the butter and cream. Whisk to combine, set aside to cool.

Break the chocolate up into a bowl, and slowly melt over a simmering pot of water. Line a baking tray with baking paper allowing some overhang. Spread half of the chocolate into a thin layer on the tray. Place into the freezer/fridge to set hard.

Place the marshmallows in a pot over a low heat to melt. When they start to break up and stop looking like individual marshmallows, remove from heat and stir through the whiskey. Spread in an even layer over the chocolate. Put in the freezer/fridge to set.

Spread a layer of the caramle over the marshmallow layer, then follow up with a chocolate layer using the other half of the chocolate. Sprinkle the bacon bits over the top, pressing in slightly. Put in the fridge/freezer to set. Store in the fridge, remove about an hour before serving. If you can wait that long.


Chocolate Salami
1/3 cup finely chopped almonds
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/3 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup crushed shortbread
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1/4 cup Mandarin liqueur
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp orange zest
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
icing sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 175C. Spread the nuts on a baking tray and put in the oven until lightly toasted. Remove and cool

Chop the butter up, add to chocolate chips and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between until completely melted. It'll burn if you try do it all at once. Stir in the liqueur until smooth, then add the nuts, shortbread, salt and zest, making sure it's evenly combined. Fold through the white chocolate chips. Place in the fridge to cool and harden, so you can form it.

I then divided this into 3 portions, for three smaller salamis. Place three sheets of plastic wrap on the counter - 1 for each sausage. Form into a sausage shape and wrap tightly in the plastic. Let it chill until firm, I left it overnight.

Remove from plastic, then rub the outside with icing sugar to make it look like a real salami! You'll then need to wrap in new plastic wrap to store. Slice and eat!