My Nonna's Bunet
A perfect finish for a Sunday lunch or for a dinner with friends. Easy to make and can be prepared a few days in advanced and kept in the fridge.
If you have been visiting the Italian region of “Piemonte” and especially the Monferrato and the Langhe, land of amazing food and wines; you must have heard and I hope tasted this lovely chocolate and amaretti biscuits pudding.
I always described it as the ancestor of the panna cotta as it’s made only with a few ingredients and NO gelatine. When the cocoa powder was too expensive to use and not so widely available the Bunet/Bonet was made without the cocoa powder therefore it was white.
I prefer to make it mainly with egg yolks and then use the egg whites for meringues, but you can use the whole eggs as well. The consistency will be less creamy.
When I was living in the UK I could find some Gold Top milk, from the Jersey cattle which has 5% fat content, making my bunet richer. Nowadays I use full fat milk and it works as well.
Let’s start cooking:
Bunet della Nonna
A traditional dish of Piemonte with a special twist courtesy of Cinzia’s grandmother. Serves 6/8.
Ingredients:
100g amaretti biscuits, finely crushed (with some extra biscuits for decoration)
50g cocoa powder
8 egg yolks
1/2 glass rum
700g Gold Top fresh milk
150g sugar
zest of one orange
150g sugar for the caramel
Method
Mix the crushed Amaretti, cocoa powder and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Bring the milk with the orange zest to near boiling. Leave to cool. Remove orange zest.
Mix the egg yolks into the dry mix. Stir in the rum and the cooled milk.
Make a caramel with 150g of the sugar, and pour into an empty plum-cake tin. The caramel will solidify, but don’t worry, after the cooking in bain-marie it will get liquid again.
Pour over the liquid mix.
Cook in bain-marie for 45-50 min. at 180 deg, until the surface of the bunet is firm and not wobbly to the touch. A wooden toothpick will do, as well.
Keep the Bunet in the fridge, covered with cling film until it’s time to serve it. it can be prepared up to three days before.
To serve: put the container/s in hot water for a minute, so the caramel melts a little. Then turn it on a serving plate and decorate with amaretti biscuits.
Wine Pairing by my husband James MacNay (IWA):
Bunet calls for one wine in particular, and that is Brachetto, the delicious fruit-and-rose-scented sweet sparkling red from Piemonte. Brachetto is considered a ‘fully aromatic’ grape, meaning it is ideal for short fermentation, which is the way to emphasise its vibrant aromas - and also keep the alcohol down to around 5%.
The most famous examples are from around the town of Acqui Terme in the Monferrato, where the appellation is Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG. We also love the example from Marco Porello in the town of Canale, where the grape is called Birbet.
Serve Brachetto/Birbet ice cold.
A family favourite.