CHOCOLATE CROISSANT PUDDING

Ingredients.......4 croissants (torn into pieces), 125 gm of dark chocolate melts, 4 eggs lightly beaten, 5 tbs of castor sugar, 250ml of milk, 250 ml of cream, 1 tbs of grated orange rind, 4 tbs of orange juice, 2 tbs of roughly chopped hazelnuts ( optional ), cream to serve. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Grease the base and side of a 20cm /8"cake pan and line the base with baking paper( allowing some of the baking paper to come up around the pan to allow for easy removal. Place the torn croissant pieces into the pan and scatter over 100gm of the chocolate melts. Beat the eggs and sugar together until pale and creamy. Heat the milk, cream and the remaining 25gm of dark chocolate melts in a saucepan until simmering, stir to melt the chocolate pieces, now remove from heat. When cooled slightly, gradually add to the egg mixture, stirring constantly. Now stir in the orange zest and juice. Slowly pour the mixture over the croissants, allowing the liquid to be fully absorbed. Finally sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over the topand bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and carefully remove to a serving plate ( using the extended baking paper for ease of removal . Slice and serve with whipped cream.