Recipes: Chocolate-Dipped Tuxedo Strawberries and Flan with Coffee Caramel Sauce

Chocolate-Dipped Tuxedo Strawberries

8 ounces white chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening
25 large strawberries with stems and leaves, chilled
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortening

Heat the white chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in a double boiler over hot water until smooth, stirring frequently. Keep warm.

Dip each strawberry into the white chocolate to cover 3/4 of the strawberry. Arrange on a tray lined with waxed paper. Chill for 10 minutes.

Heat the semisweet chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening in a double boiler over hot water until smooth, stirring frequently. Keep warm.

Dip one side of white chocolate-covered strawberries into the semisweet chocolate. Arrange on a tray lined with waxed paper. Chill until set. Repeat this process on the other side of the strawberries, forming a "V" shaped effect on the front of the strawberries. Chill until set.

Dip the end of a wooden pick into the melted semi-sweet chocolate.

Place three dots to represent buttons at the bottle of the V; now the strawberries are "dressed" for the event.

Makes twenty-five strawberries.

Flan with Coffee Caramel Sauce

Flan

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
3 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup coffee-flavored liqueur

Sauce

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup coffee-flavored liqueur
1-1/2 cups whipping cream

For the flan, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Combine 1 cup of the sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat; do not stir. Cook for 10 minutes or until thickened and amber in color; do not stir. Spoon into twenty 2-ounce ovenproof custard cups.

Combine 2 tablespoons of the sugar, milk, whipping cream and vanilla in a saucepan and mix well. Cook over medium heat just to the boiling point; do not boil. Remove from heat.

Combine the remaining sugar, eggs, egg yolks and coffee-flavored liqueur in a bowl and mix well. Stir a small amount of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture; stir the egg mixture into the hot milk mixture. Strain to remove any lumps. Pour into the prepared custard cups.

Place the custard cups in two 9 x 13-inch baking pans. Pour in just enough boiling water to reach halfway up sides of the cups. Bake, covered with foil, for 45 to 50 minutes or until set. Let stand for 20 minutes.

For the sauce, combine the sugar and coffee-flavored liqueur in a saucepan and mix well. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes or until the mixture is amber in color. Add the whipping cream gradually and mix well.

Invert the custard cups onto a serving platter or individual dessert plates; drizzle with the sauce.

Serves twenty

Freeze unused egg whites in ice cube trays. Store the frozen egg whites in sealable plastic freezer bags in the freezer. Thaw before using.