Italian-style Christmas pud

A delicious pudding prepared using panettone, an Italian-style light-textured bread containing dried fruit.

Ingredients

½ cup	Icing sugar
100 g	Dark chocolate
100 g	Dark chocolate
500 g	Ricotta cheese (Main)
250 g	Mascarpone
70 g	Hazelnuts
100 g	Dried fruit, mixed
1 loaf	Panettone (Main)
4 Tbsp	Oranges, rind
¼ cup	Orange liqueur

Directions

1. Line an eight-cup metal pudding basin with plastic wrap, leaving enough to wrap over the top of the pudding.
2. Cook hazelnuts in a heavy-based frying pan for five minutes over a medium heat until lightly browned.
3. Pour into a large sieve and shake to remove skins. Coarsely chop.
4. Beat ricotta, mascarpone and icing sugar, until smooth. Chop chocolate into small-medium pieces. Add to ricotta mixture together with hazelnuts, chocolate, dried fruit and orange rind.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut panettone lengthways into six 1.5cm thick slices. Remove crusts.
6. Arrange 4 of the slices, overlapping slightly, around the sides and base of the pudding basin. Brush with 2 Tbsp of the liqueur.
7. Spoon ricotta mixture into the panettone, pressing in firmly.
8. Brush both sides of the remaining panettone with the remaining liqueur and place firmly on top of the pudding. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to chill.