Chocolate "Pepperoni" and Dessert "Pizza"

Fun with food!

I saw a recipe for "Chocolate Salami" in the fabulous cookbook, La Dolce Vita by Ursula Ferrigno. Then, I saw a recipe for "Dessert Pizza" in Judith Olney's Entertainments, one of my favorite cookbooks ever. Pizza? Dessert? These are Dave's two favorite food groups. I just had to make my own dessert pizza.

The chocolate pepperoni is so simple to make, and it makes MANY servings. I think the idea is great for kids, but if you use a very dark chocolate I think the kiddies would find it too bitter. Additionally, you would need to leave out the brandy if you were serving it to children.

The pizza takes just minutes to make. I used pre-packaged puff pastry, some melted white chocolate for the "cheese", and raspberry jam for the sauce.

To make the pepperoni:
2 ounces split blanched almonds
20 petit beurre biscuits ( I used gingerbread cookies)
8 ounces dark chocolate
6 ounces unsalted butter
3 tablespoons brandy
1 ounce ground almonds
1 tablespoon cocoa powder, for dusting
Process the biscuits in a food processor until roughly chopped.

Break the chocolate into pieces and put into a small saucepan. Cut the butter into small pieces, add to chocolate with the brandy, and heat gently until melted. Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of crushed biscuits, add the nuts, mix well.

Leave the mixture in the fridge for about 2 hours, until it is solid.

Sprinkle some cocoa powder onto a large piece of parchment. Turn out the chocolate mixture onto the parchment. Shape the chocolate into a sausage shape, about 9 inches long.

Put back in the fridge until ready to serve. I served this with a bit of caramel sauce on the side.

Dessert pizza:
Defrost 1 sheet of puff pastry. Roll it out a bit, and using your fingers, crimp the edges at the same time shaping the dough into a free-form circle. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the dough all over to prevent bubbles from forming during baking. Bake the pastry according to package instructions. Let cool.

Cover the pastry with a thin layer of jam. Melt about 3 ounces of white chocolate and pour that over the jam. Add the chocolate pepperoni. Wait until the white chocolate hardens before serving.