Step 1

Put the sugar into a casserole and add the water, then put it onto the heat and leave to cook.

Step 2

Check the coloring of the caramel, which must end up a deep brown.

Step 3

Pour the caramel into the appropriate moulds for Bônet and leave to cool.

Step 4

Put the whole eggs into a bowl and beat them together with the caster sugar.

Step 5

Blend in the cocoa powder and mix thoroughly, and then add the crushed Amaretti biscuits and the rum. Heat the milk separately and then add it to the mixture, mixing continuously with a whisk.

Step 6

Pour the mixture into the caramel-coated moulds.

Step 7

Put the moulds into a baking tray containing hot water and cook bain-marie style in the oven at 300°F for 40’-50’, until the dessert has completely coagulated.

Chef's tips

The mixture must be well shaken to make sure the bitter cocoa is properly dissolved This is to avoid lumps.
The baking must be carried out in a preheated oven, and the water to be put in the tray must already be hot, to avoid the dessert being exposed for too long to the heat of the oven.
Let it cool well before turning it out. The taste is better if consumed the following day.

Food History

Bonet is a Piemontese preparation that was served at noble banquets all the back in the 13th century. Made the same way you would make a pudding or crème caramel, bonet originally did not contain chocolate. Chocolate was added to the recipe after the discovery of America and when cacao became available in Europe. The original version is hard to find today and is referred to as bonet alla monferrina.
In Piemontese dialect, the word bonet means hat and there are two theories explaining why: some linguists believe that bonèt ëd cusin-a (chef’s hat) was the name of the hat-shaped copper mold used to make the dish. Many people in Piedmont, however, will tell you that the name comes from the fact that it was the last thing that you would eat during a meal, just as a hat is the last thing you put on when you get up from the table to leave a restaurant or a friend’s home.

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