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Creamy Cookie Sausage
Instructions
Cut the prunes and dried apricots into small even pieces. Soak them briefly in warm water first if they seem particularly dry, since plumper softer fruit produces noticeably better texture in the finished cookie sausage.
Crush about 250 grams of the sand cookies into fine crumbs using a potato masher, a rolling pin in a sealed bag, or any other convenient method. The crumbs will eventually bind the chocolate mixture together and produce the characteristic creamy texture in the finished sausage.
Break the second portion (about 150 grams) of the sand cookies into larger irregular pieces about the size of small grapes. The mixture of fine crumbs and larger pieces produces a more interesting textural contrast in the finished cross-section than uniform crumbs alone would provide.
Pour 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder into a heavy-bottomed cooking pot. Use the highest-quality unsweetened cocoa powder you can afford, since the cocoa is the dominant flavour in the chocolate base and there is nowhere for poor-quality cocoa to hide.
Add 150 grams of granulated sugar to the cocoa powder in the pot. Stir the dry ingredients together briefly with a whisk to distribute evenly before adding the wet ingredients in the next step of the recipe.
Pour 100 millilitres of milk into the pot with the cocoa and sugar. Whisk briefly to combine into a thick smooth paste before placing on the heat. Whisking thoroughly at this cold stage prevents lumps from forming when the mixture starts to heat.
Continue mixing thoroughly with a whisk until the mixture is completely homogeneous. Smaller cocoa lumps should disappear into the liquid base completely. The properly mixed paste should look smooth and uniformly dark brown throughout.
Place the pot on the stove over medium heat and stir constantly. As soon as the chocolate mass starts to boil, let it simmer gently for a few minutes while continuing to stir to prevent any sticking or burning at the bottom of the pot.
Remove the pot from the heat, add the butter, and stir with a whisk until the butter has completely melted into the warm chocolate mixture. The added butter gives the chocolate base its characteristic glossy sheen and rich creamy texture.
Add the cookie crumbs, the larger cookie pieces, the walnuts, the chopped prunes and the chopped dried apricots to the warm chocolate mass. Mix everything together thoroughly until all the dry ingredients are evenly coated with the chocolate mixture throughout.
Lay several layers of food-grade plastic wrap on a clean work surface or kitchen counter. The multiple layers create a sturdy enough wrap to support the weight of the chocolate mixture during shaping without tearing.
Place the prepared chocolate mixture along one edge of the plastic wrap. Form the mass into a rough log shape with your hands before starting the rolling step that follows next in the recipe.
Roll the mixture up tightly in the plastic wrap into the shape of a long sausage. Tie or twist the ends of the wrap to seal the sausage shape securely. The recipe quantity makes 2 standard sausages. Place them in the freezer for one hour or in the refrigerator for two hours to firm up.
The creamy cookie sausages with walnuts, dried apricots and prunes are now ready to serve. Cut the chilled sausage into round slices about 1 centimetre thick and arrange attractively on a serving plate. Serve alongside a warm pot of fragrant tea for the most authentic experience. Bon appetit!
Tips
- 1
Use properly fresh sand cookies (also called shortbread biscuits or "pesochnoye" cookies) rather than stale or damp ones, since fresh cookies crumble cleanly into the right consistency. Stale cookies tend to absorb extra moisture from the chocolate mixture and produce a sticky finished sausage that struggles to hold its proper firm sliceable shape during the chilling time. Always check the expiry date before opening the package.
- 2
Toast the walnuts briefly in a dry frying pan before adding for a deeper richer nutty flavour in the finished sausage. To pair this beautifully simple no-bake dessert with another homemade tea-time treat, try our beautifully tender cookie fish cake with sour cream and bananas as a richer creamier no-bake alternative on the same celebration spread.
- 3
Roll the sausages tightly in the plastic wrap and twist the ends firmly to compress the mixture into a properly compact log shape during chilling. Loose wrapping produces a softer crumbly finished sausage that struggles to slice cleanly into round pieces. The tighter the rolling, the cleaner and more attractive the cross-sectional appearance will be when the sausage is sliced and served.
- 4
Slice the chilled sausage with a sharp knife dipped briefly in hot water and wiped completely dry between each cut for the cleanest professional-looking rounds on the serving plate. For another classic no-bake homemade dessert to add variety to your celebration menu, try our beautifully creamy eggless tiramisu with cream and mascarpone as a more elegant Italian alternative.
FAQ
Can I use other dried fruits in this recipe? +
Absolutely. Dried cranberries, dried sour cherries, raisins, candied citron peel, even chopped Medjool dates all work as substitutes for the traditional prunes and dried apricots in this recipe. Each fruit brings its own slightly different flavour profile and colour to the finished cookie sausage. A combination of two or three different dried fruits often produces the most interesting flavour and visual contrast in the finished cross-section. Use the same total weight of substitute fruit as the recipe calls for.
What can replace walnuts in this recipe? +
Pecans, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, macadamia nuts and even cashews all work brilliantly as substitutes for walnuts in this cookie sausage. Each variety brings its own slightly different flavour profile and texture to the finished dessert. For guests with nut allergies, you can simply omit the nuts entirely and add an extra handful of dried fruit or cookie pieces to compensate. The basic technique stays exactly the same regardless of which nut you choose to use.
How long does this dessert keep? +
Store the chilled sausage tightly wrapped in fresh plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to a full week, or in the freezer for up to two months. The flavours actually improve slightly over the first few days as the cookie absorbs the chocolate mixture more fully. For longer storage, freeze the sausages and slice off rounds straight from frozen as needed, since each slice thaws within a few minutes at room temperature ready to serve with tea or coffee.
Can I make this dessert without cocoa? +
Yes, replace the cocoa powder with the same weight of melted dark or milk chocolate for a noticeably richer creamier finished sausage. White chocolate also works for an unusual pale variation, though the colour and flavour will be quite different from the original. Reduce the added sugar slightly when using milk or white chocolate, since these are sweeter than pure cocoa powder. The basic technique stays the same regardless of which chocolate you choose.
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