Pre-heat the oven to 180°C
Place the dried cherries in a small bowl, add the almond essence or Amaretto (if used), and stir the mixture well. Cover with cling film and set aside.
Evenly spread the almonds and pistachios onto a baking tray and gently toast them in the oven. Depending on your oven, this could take between 5-10 minutes. You’ll know when they’re ready as the nutty aroma will hit you when you open the oven door.
Watch out: The difference between gently toasted and burnt can be less than a minute so keep a close eye on them. When ready take them out and once they’ve cooled, roughly chop them (there’s no need to aim for uniform pieces)
In a heatproof bowl put the chocolate & butter (chopped) over a pan of simmering water. Be careful not to let the water hit the bottom of the bowl as this can cause the chocolate to seize. Stir regularly until the butter and chocolate have melted and combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk together: caster sugar, soft brown sugar, whole egg and yolk. You only need to whisk this until the ingredients are combined.
Add the egg & sugar mixture to the chocolate & butter mixture over the heat and constantly stir until the mixture has a silky smooth appearance. This will take around 7 minutes. An easy way to tell if the mixture is ready is if it is hot to touch with the end of your finger.
Tip your soaked cherries, crushed Amaretti biscuits and chopped nuts into the chocolate mixture and give it a good stir, remove the bowl from the heat and leave to cool for about an hour.
Cut two pieces of baking paper approximately 30cm long, and lay these flat on the worktop.
Divide the chocolate mixture into two, and spread each half evenly along the long sides of the baking paper.
Roll the mixture and then twist the ends tightly in opposite directions. Place flat into the fridge overnight (or at least four hours).
Once chilled, unravel the salami from the baking paper and, using a pastry brush, lightly dust with the icing sugar until you achieve the look you like.
Then you are free to wrap, gift or eat your chocolate salami as you wish!
