Camp Bonet Pudding
Cocoa, coffee, and crushed amaretti set into a thick pudding on a camp stove.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 149
- protein
- 7 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 17 min
- water
- 400 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Whole milk powder | 1/2 cup | |
|---|---|---|
| White sugar | 1/3 cup | 1 tbsp of it held back for the caramel |
| Unsweetened cocoa powder | 3 tbsp | |
| Cornstarch | 3 tbsp | replaces the eggs |
| Instant espresso powder | 2 tsp | |
| Ground cinnamon | 1/4 tsp | stands in for the cinnamon sticks |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Vanilla extract | 1/2 tsp | or a splash of dark rum |
| Amaretti cookies | 6 cookies | crushed, almond cookies |
| Chopped toasted nuts | 2 tbsp | hazelnut or almond |
Method
- Crush the amaretti in their bag and set them aside.
- Put 1 tbsp of the sugar in the dry pot over low heat. Let it melt and go amber, swirling the pot, then kill the heat and add 2 tbsp of water. It will spit. Stand back.
- Whisk the dry mix into 400 ml of water in the same pot until no lumps are left. Do this off the heat or the cornstarch will clump.
- Back on low heat, stir constantly. It thickens all at once at a bare simmer. Give it one more minute after that.
- Off the heat, stir in the vanilla or rum.
- Scatter half the crushed amaretti into two mugs, pour the pudding over, and top with the rest plus the nuts. Eat warm, or set it in a cold creek for an hour.
The original is a baked custard: eggs, cream, a water bath, an hour in the oven, four hours to set. None of that travels. Cornstarch does the same job as the eggs without needing gentle even heat, and milk powder replaces the cream, so the whole thing happens in one pot over a burner you can hold your hand near.
The flavors are what carry it, and they are all shelf-stable already: cocoa, strong coffee, cinnamon, almond cookies. The amaretti go in dry and soften from below, which gives you the same soaked-cookie layer the baked version gets from the bottom of the mold. Whisk the powders into cold water before the pot goes on heat, or you will be picking out cornstarch lumps by headlamp.
Packing
Milk powder, sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, espresso, cinnamon, and salt go in one bag mixed at home. Amaretti and nuts ride in a hard container or they arrive as dust and crumbs. Keep the caramel tablespoon of sugar separate.
Variations
- Skip the caramel step entirely. It is the fussiest part and the pudding stands without it.
- Swap the amaretti for crushed gingersnaps if almond cookies are hard to find.
- Coconut milk powder in place of the milk powder makes it dairy-free.
https://foragerchef.com/bonet-dessert