Gordon Ramsay’s Chocolate and Amaretti Budino

Budino is a traditional Italian dessert, a rich and creamy pudding which often comes in the flavours of vanilla or chocolate. In its simplest version, budino is a children’s favourite, eaten as a mid-afternoon snacks or at kids’ parties. For a grown up and sophisticated pudding, try Gordon Ramsay’s Chocolate and Amaretti Budino, a recipe inspired by the chef’s London restaurant Union Street Café.

Union Street Café is an urban restaurant by the Gordon Ramsay Group that’s inspired by the casual glamour of Northern Italy. The menu is crafted by Italian Head Chef Davide Degiovanni and features seasonal ingredients sourced from specially selected producers from the Mediterranean with an emphasis on Italian artisan producers.

Royal Doulton Tableware Collection

The Union Street Café restaurant has recently partnered with English company Royal Doulton to launch a beautiful tableware collection, inspired by the down-to-earth nature of the restaurant. With a rustic and striking design, the tableware pays homage to Union Street Café’s “less is more” approach. The colour of the dishes and the speckle glaze all reflect the rustic, artisanal approach of the restaurant.

The collection places an emphasis on casual dining and it comprises of flat plates, pasta bowls, dessert bowls, mugs and serving platters. 

The lovely team at Royal Doulton kindly sent me the Union Street Café range to review and I immediately fell in love with the homely yet sophisticated design! The colours are also my style: a pale cream with a dark rim and a pastel blue with a blue rim.

Thanks to Royal Doulton, you could received this beautiful tableware too! All you need to do is share the love for Royal Doulton on Twitter or Instagram. You can find out more about the competition details at the bottom of this post.

To showcase the new range I decided to make one of Gordon Ramsay’s dessert recipes. This luscious Chocolate and Amaretti Budino is first baked, refrigerated and served with a delicious caramel sauce and crushed amaretti biscuits. The flavours are intense and the taste is blissful. And doesn’t it look pretty served in the Union Street Café plates?

Chocolate and Amaretti Budino

Ingredients

For the caramel

• 150g caster sugar

For the budino

• 250g whole milk
• 25g cocoa powder
• 25g chocolate 55%
• 50g caster sugar
• 40g egg white
• 30g egg yolk
• 50g crushed Amaretti biscuits
• 20g Amaretto liquor

To serve

• 200g whipped cream
• 30g crushed Amaretti biscuits

Preparation

To prepare the dry caramel, add sugar a little at a time into a pan on a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Make sure not to burn it otherwise it will taste bitter. Once the caramel is ready, pour it gently into 4 aluminium cups enough to cover only the base. Leave on the side to rest.

Pour the milk and the cocoa powder in a pan and put it on the stove. Stir with a whisk until the milk starts to boil. Remove the pan from the stove, add the chocolate and stir until it melts. In another bowl whisk the eggs and the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Pour this mixture in to the milk and continue to stir, then add the crushed Amaretti biscuit and the Amaretto liquor. When you have reached a homogenized mix divide it into the 4 aluminium cups prepared with the caramel and place it in a deep tray with enough water to cover half of the cups.

Bake at 180°C for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the hot tray and leave it to cool down in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Before serving whip the cream and scoop it on the side of each plate. De-mould the Budino and place it beside the cream and sprinkle with the dry Amaretti biscuit.

Disclaimer: this post was written in collaboration with Royal Doulton. All opinions are my own.