Bonèt, also known as Bounet, is a very traditional Piemontese pudding made with amaretti and cocoa, and it's one of the standard family desserts during the cooler months, when rich foods add comfort to the table. To make enough for the family, you'll need:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 quarts (2 liters) whole milk
- 5 whole eggs
- 10 egg yolks
- 2 1/4 cups (600 g) sugar
- 1 pound (450 g) amaretti (dry almond macaroons)
- A glass of rum
- 2 ounces (60 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- The grated zest of a lemon
- A vanilla bean (optional)
- A pudding mold large enough to contain the ingredients
Preparation:
Whir the amaretti in a blender to reduce them to a powder -- you will obtain about 3 cups.
Stir the lemon zest into the milk and bring the milk to a boil; if you're using the vanilla bean add it too, and remove it when the milk starts to boil.
In the meantime, beat the eggs and yolks in a bowl with a scant pound (400 g) of the sugar. Add the rum, powdered amaretti, and cocoa, and mix until the mixture is uniformly creamy.
Stir the mixture into the hot milk and cook everything a very gentle flame for a half hour.
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
While it's heating, put the remaining sugar in a mold and heat it over the flame to caramelize it; turn the mold this way and that to coat the insides of the mold with the caramelized sugar. Fill the mold with the pudding, and bake it in the oven, in a pan of water (a bagno Maria, or bain marie) , for about an hour. Remove the Bonèt from the oven, let it cool, unmold it onto a serving dish, and serve.
Several observations:
Though this recipe doesn't have you cover the mold, a couple of other recipes I have seen do say to cover it with aluminum foil, while another says to set the Bonèt in a cold oven in a pan of water and heat it a bagno maria.
Also, many people like to serve their Bonèt chilled.
Next, since Bonèt is thicker than most puddings, it is often served sliced, on plates, rather than in bowls. A wine? Patricia Thompson, of La Dolce Vita Wine Tours, suggests Brachetto, a raspberry-laced sweet sparkling red wine from Piemonte.
And finally, the above recipe makes quite a bit. Here's a less abundant recipe for Bounet:
Stir the lemon zest into the milk and bring the milk to a boil; if you're using the vanilla bean add it too, and remove it when the milk starts to boil.
In the meantime, beat the eggs and yolks in a bowl with a scant pound (400 g) of the sugar. Add the rum, powdered amaretti, and cocoa, and mix until the mixture is uniformly creamy.
Stir the mixture into the hot milk and cook everything a very gentle flame for a half hour.
In the meantime, preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
While it's heating, put the remaining sugar in a mold and heat it over the flame to caramelize it; turn the mold this way and that to coat the insides of the mold with the caramelized sugar. Fill the mold with the pudding, and bake it in the oven, in a pan of water (a bagno Maria, or bain marie) , for about an hour. Remove the Bonèt from the oven, let it cool, unmold it onto a serving dish, and serve.
Several observations:
Though this recipe doesn't have you cover the mold, a couple of other recipes I have seen do say to cover it with aluminum foil, while another says to set the Bonèt in a cold oven in a pan of water and heat it a bagno maria.
Also, many people like to serve their Bonèt chilled.
Next, since Bonèt is thicker than most puddings, it is often served sliced, on plates, rather than in bowls. A wine? Patricia Thompson, of La Dolce Vita Wine Tours, suggests Brachetto, a raspberry-laced sweet sparkling red wine from Piemonte.
And finally, the above recipe makes quite a bit. Here's a less abundant recipe for Bounet:
- 5 eggs
- 1 quart (1 liter) milk
- 2 ounces (50 g) cocoa
- 2 ounces (60 g) bitter chocolate
- 1/4 pound amaretti (100 g)
- 4/5 cup (200 g) sugar
- The grated zest of a lemon
- A few toasted hazelnuts, whirred in a blender
- A gigger of rum.
