Bunet
The bunet, or bonet, is a Piedmontese spoon dessert made with amaretti, cocoa, eggs and caramel, cooked in a bain-marie like crème caramel; it is found throughout Piedmont and is recognized among the region's traditional agri-food products.[1]
The name
The name comes from «bonèt», the truncated-cone-shaped copper mould that resembles a hat, the «bonet ëd cusin-a».[2][3]
History
Between Langhe and Monferrato, a pale version without chocolate was already being made in the thirteenth century for the richest banquets: sources describe it as made with milk, eggs and sugar, together with amaretti or almonds; the cocoa variant arrived with American products.[1][2][3] The dessert appears in Piedmontese recipe books from the early nineteenth century — «La Cuoca di Buon Gusto» of 1801 and «Polizia e cucina», where it is listed among the «tramessi», the dishes served between courses — and in Giovanni Vialardi's treatise of 1854.[1][2] Cooking it in a bain-marie with liqueur was described in 1846 by Francesco Chapusot, cook to the English ambassador in Turin; by the late nineteenth century the dessert had moved from bourgeois kitchens to those of ordinary people.[2][4]
The recipe
A typical recipe uses amaretti, bitter cocoa, egg yolks, milk, sugar and rum.[1] In the Langhe, Tonda Gentile hazelnuts are added, and coffee, cognac or Fernet are used instead of rum; in Piedmont it is a traditional dessert for Grandparents' Day, on October 2nd.[2]