Chocolate Caramel Hazelnut Pie

1 Prebaked 9" pie shell

--FILLING

-- 1 1/2 c Sugar

1/2 c Water

1/2 c Unsalted butter, cut into

-pieces 1 cn Evaporated milk (5 oz)

2 oz Unsweetened chocolate,

-chopped 2 c Hazelnuts or filberts,

-skinned and coarsely -chopped

OPTIONAL DECORATION

8 Whole hazelnuts, skinned

24 Sliced almonds

From "The Artful Pie", Lisa Cherasky & Renee Comet (Chapters Publishing). Filling preparation: First, prepare the pie shell. Then, in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, stir together the sugar and water. Set the saucepan over medium-high heat. Let the sugar mixture come to a boil and continue to cook until it caramelizes. Do not stir the sugar as it cooks. If it caramelizes unevenly, you can move it around by swirling it in the pan. When the sugar is a rich golden brown, remove it from heat and stir in the butter and evaporated milk gradually, mixing well with a wooden spoon until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes and stir in the chocolate. Beat with a whisk until very smooth. Set the filling aside to cool for 10-15 minutes and then stir in the nuts. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 475'F. Assembly and baking: Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake for 10 minutes, until the edge is very brown and the center is bubbling.

Once the pie has cooled to room temperature, about 1 hour, decorate it, if desired, by making small flowers with the whole hazelnuts and sliced almonds. Makes one 9" single-crust pie.