Italian Chocolate Custard (Bonet alla Piemontese)
An authentic North Italian dessert, ‘Bonet alla Piemontese’ (Italian Chocolate Custard) will surely impress your friends. A perfect balance of sweet and bitter flavors in every spoonful – it’s not that hard to prepare, it just looks like it!
Servings: 4
Calories: 206kcal
Ingredients
For Caramel:
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp water
For Custard:
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tbsp cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tbsp sugar, heaping
- 1/4 cup amaretti cookies, crushed (plus more for serving)
- 1 & 1/2 tbsp rum
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
Preparing the caramel:
- Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and mix until the sugar has dissolved.
- Place the pan on medium heat and let the mixture boil, then turn brown in color.
- Once you have reached the caramel's desired color, take the pan off the heat and pour it into the ramekins.
- Set them aside to cool.
Preparing the chocolate custard:
- Combine cocoa powder with milk in another saucepan over medium heat.
- Heat the milk while stirring to dissolve the cocoa powder. Do not let it boil.
- Take the pan off the heat and set it aside to cool.
- Using a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the eggs with three tablespoons of sugar.
- Add cooled milk and cocoa powder mixture, crushed amaretti cookies, and rum, then mix.
- Pour into medium-sized ramekins, on top of the caramel that should be hard by now.
- Place the ramekins on a baking tray.
- Pour warm water (NOT BOILING) into the baking tray, about 1/3 of the tray.
- Place the baking tray in the oven for about 50 to 55 minutes.
- Take the tray out of the oven and set it aside to cool.
- Once completely cooled, place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
- Transfer chocolate custards on a serving plate and sprinkle some more crushed amaretti, if preferred.
- Serve.
Video
Notes
- Cook's Tip #1: If you want to keep it authentic, do not skip the rum. But if you are serving it to kids, you can definitely substitute 1 &1/2 teaspoons of almond extract instead.
- Cook's Tip #2: Once they are already in the oven, make sure that the tray's water does not boil. If it does, lower the temperature of the oven.
- Cook's Tip #3: The chocolate custard center should still be slightly jiggly when you take it out of the oven.
- Cook's Tip #4: For ease of serving, place the ramekins on hot water for a minute, slide an angled metal spatula along the sides of the bonet, then turn the ramekins over directly on a plate.
Nutrition
Calories: 206kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 149mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 209mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 301IU | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 1mg