Chocolate Sausage, Chocolate Kolbasa, Chocolate Salami- Fast and Easy Dessert that Will Boost Your Serotonin.

Ask anyone whose childhood was spent in Soviet Union, if he/she knows what is "shokoladnaya kolbasa" and 99% he/she will know!

"Shokoladnaya Kolbasa" is a simple, easy dessert that was made out of ingredients available in Soviet Union. It is not a secret that there was no variety in food or in clothes in Soviet Union. Not because Soviet Union was a poor country, oh no! Soviet Union was a rich country, one of the richest in the world. But those in power kept Soviet people under poverty, on the same level, equally poor for one reason- to be able to rule them easily.

So, back to the dessert of my childhood.

Milk, eggs, sugar, cookies were among the short list of foods available for an average citizen.

I was so happy when my mother was making "shokoladnaya kolbasa" for me!

Chocolate Sausage, this is what it was. Now I call it Chocolate Salami, just for fun.

First I will tell you an old fashioned recipe with the ingredients that were available in my old country, but then I am going to share my own modification of this recipe.

The classic basic recipe for Chocolate Sausage calls for:

• Gallette Cookies like Maria, or Cookies like Lorna Doone, 1/2 lb
• Cocoa powder, 3 Tb. spoons
• Sugar, 4 Tb. spoons
• Unsalted butter, 2 sticks
• Milk, 1/2 cup
• Dash of vanilla

Some classic recipes call also for an egg.

What to do:

• Crush the cookies- part of cookies crush almost to a powder, another part of cookies you should crush to small pieces.
• Mix cocoa powder and sugar in a pot. In the recipes that call for an egg, beat an egg and sugar until foamy, then mix in cocoa powder.
• Add milk and beat until cocoa powder smoothly dissolves.
• Cut butter into pieces and add to cocoa mixture.
• On a low heal make all the ingredients melt into smooth consistency.
• Add crushed cookies into the mixture and mix thoroughly. The mixture has to be thick. If it is not thick enough, just add more crushed cookies.
• Put the mixture on a piece of aluminum foil and roll as a sausage.
• Freeze in a freezer.
• Cut the chocolate sausage into pieces.

Though I remember how we used to make "shokoladnaya kolbasa" way back in my old country, now I make it the easier way. Also, I add more ingredients.

• Two or three packs of Lorna Doone cookies. Crush part of cookies into coarse powder, and part of the cookies just break into very small pieces.
• A cup of fried and crushed almonds and walnuts. You may use any nuts you like. Crush the nuts, or just buy crushed nuts.
• 1/2 cup of candied orange peels, or any candied fruits, cut in small pieces. Also, you may use raisins.
• Mix all the above in a bowl and add 4 Tb Spoons of chocolate milk powder.
• In a separate bowl melt two sticks of unsalted butter, open a can of sweet condensed milk and mix with melted butter.
• Mix into milk and butter all the cookies-nuts-chocolate powder mixture. The mixture has to be thick. If it is not thick enough, just add more crushed cookies.
• You may add several drops of brandy, rum or cognac.

• Put some of the mixture on a piece of aluminum foil and roll as a sausage. You should get several "sausages".
• Freeze in a freezer.
• Cut the chocolate sausage into pieces.

You will feel how your mood changes into happy state while you are eating this easy Russian dessert.