Making: The Ultimate Strawberry Truffles

Here is a great little no-bake summery dessert. These are so easy and look impressive.

Ingredients:
9 ounces chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup whipping cream
12 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces- 2 cups
1 T strong brewed coffee
2 tsp Triple sec or other orange liqueur- I used a pear liqueur
1/2 tsp vanilla
12 large strawberries with stems, rinsed and patted dry
1 cup strawberries, hulled and cut

In a large mixing bowl, combine the chocolate wafer crumbs and the melted butter until well mixed. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and sides of twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups lined with paper bake cups. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat cream over medium-low heat just to simmering. Remove from heat. Place chocolate pieces in a medium bowl. Pour cream over chocolate and let stand 10 minutes ( do not stir ) Add the coffee, Triple Sec, and vanilla; stir until mixture is creamy. Cover and chill about 45 minutes or until thickened.

Beat chocolate mixture with an electric mixer on medium to high speed until lightened in color and slightly fluffy. Pipe or spoon mixture into crumb shells. Press one large strawberry with stem into the center of each truffle. Cover and chill truffles until very firm about 2 hours. Place cut strawberries in a blender and process until smooth. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

To serve, remove truffles from muffin cups and place on a serving platter or dessert plates. Drizzle some of the pureed strawberry sauce on each strawberry truffle. Makes 12 servings.