Cooking folks...

[telophase]

...perhaps you can help me where a quick Google hasn't. Last night, at the party for the end of my piano class, one of the students brought some cookies that she'd made. She's Romanian, and said they were Romanian, but she's seen variants from Greece and other Eastern European countries.

The dough was rolled into logs and sliced. I do not know if they're non-bake refrigerator cookies or if they were baked at all - they are soft. Here is a photo of the ones I took home.

She said they contained: animal crackers, walnuts, cocoa, rum, margarine (although you could use butter), and sugar. Perhaps she mentioned a few more ingredients, but I don't remember.

So. Look familiar to anyone? Recipe? Or even just a name for them?

ETA; Thanks to commenters, it seems this is a variant of sweet salamy/salami. Posting a few quick links to similar recipes under the cut so I can find them later (I haven't found one recipe that includes everything she mentioned, as the closest ones leave the nuts out, but I think I could fake it well enough).


It seems every European country from Russia to Portugal has their own version of it, too.

http://www.grouprecipes.com/90569/russian-chocolate-salami.html
http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/123822-Mother-In-Law-s-Sweet-Salami- <-- has walnuts, no booze
http://www.dreamofitaly.com/public/741.cfm
http://italophiles.com/salamedolce.htm
http://www.wfyi.org/pdfs/aind1904_SalamiDolce.pdf
http://www.mangiabenepasta.com/italian_cookies_02.html
http://www.algarvebuzz.com/chocolate-salami-portuguese-salami-de-chocolate/

Comments

[xebra42.livejournal.com]

Google-fu produces this as a possibility:

http://globalcookies.blogspot.com/search/label/Romania

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It's similar to that, but there's definitely no sour cherry or grated coconut in it. Probably a variant. Thanks!

[farli.livejournal.com]

We see lots of those around here, the Polish and Eastern European stores sell 'em. I think they're called Salam de Biscuiti, or something similar.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm now finding similar recipes online. Nothing that exactly fits what she listed, but enough that I think I could re-create it.

Thanks!

[ninjoo.livejournal.com]

I have some Romanian friends, I'll direct them to this post to have a look for you.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I seem to have narrowed it down to a variant of sweet salami, but if they've got a specific recipe, that would be awesome. :)

[sailarmo.livejournal.com]

Hi, Ninjoo directed me here (I'm Romanian, and she assumed I can also cook.:D)
Yes, the name is "salam de biscuiti", which might be more aptly rendered as biscuit roll. And the reason why you found so many recipes is that it tends to vary a lot. It's one of those cookies you can really play around with and produce a lot of variants. I have one myself and I'll translate it when i return home tonight. But frankly, you can choose a great part of the ingredients yourself and make what you think you'd most likely find tasty.:) In other words, experiment!:D

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Thank you very much! :D

[sailarmo.livejournal.com]

There you go, that's what I remember from mom. I also cross-checked it with a recipe I had.

Salam de biscuit (biscuit roll)

This is the classical recipe for a dessert that varies a lot in terms of ingredients. It doesn't need special cooking skills; it just needs a lot of imagination and willingness to try things out. It's good value for money too and the outcome is downright delicious.

Ingredients
1 kg biscuits
2 spoonfuls of cocoa powder
1/2 kg sugar
1 package of margarine/butter
1/2 kg Turkish delight
Walnuts (up to you how much)
Rum (amount varies according to taste)

Crush the biscuits and walnuts into tiny pieces; cut the Turkish delight blocks into small thin, pieces and mix everything in a bowl.

Prepare some nice, thick syrup, as for ‘confiture’ (by warming up water and sugar in a saucepan). Mix the cocoa with a bit of water, then add it to the syrup, together with the butter and rum.

Pour this mixture over the biscuit, Turkish delight and walnut mix and mix till the biscuits are well-soaked and soft.

Put the composition on a cellophane sheet that you have previously sprinkled with crushed walnuts or coconut sprinkles or cocoa powder or simply crushed rusk (bread crumbs) – or any combination thereof you wish to make. Then roll it up to give it its characteristic shape.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I will definitely have to try this. :)