chocolate holiday sausages

• chop the dried fruits (if large) into 1 cm x 1 cm pieces and mix with cognac and vanilla extract and set aside
• break up the cookies into smaller pieces and set aside
• chop candied fruit into smaller pieces and set aside
• grind and/or grate and/or crush the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger and set aside
• in a double-boiler or bain-marie, melt the chocolate with the butter (both cut into smaller pieces) until melted and smooth
• add the ground spices, dried fruits, nuts, candied fruit and cookies to the melted chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until everything is well-coated and let cool 10 minutes
• lay out 2 large pieces of cling wrap (about 30 cm long) and spoon chocolate mixture in a log shape on each piece
• grab one side of the cling wrap and start tightly rolling the mixture into a log shape, about 15-20 cm long X 4 cm wide, even it out and pinch and twist the ends tightly too

note: to retain the sausage shape, use empty paper towel cardboard tubes and slip them inside and place in the freezer for 1-2 hours minimum

• when very firm, unwrap the chocolate sausages, coat with icing sugar, brush excess off and tie with string to resemble traditional sausages and store in the refrigerator, wrapped in parchment paper

note : the desert is quick to make, even the rolling … tying is tricky but I used 2 short metal mini-skewers on each end and then tied the string to one end and created the twine loops and tied the string to the second end to finish it !

• let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing into 1,5 cm rounds/slices.

note : I suggest doubling the recipe to make more chocolate sausages (even shorter ones) and freezing them in the cling wrap until needed. The icing sugar coating and tying could be completed later, as needed.