Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cups (Printable)

Chocolate biscuit bases layered with smooth cream and fresh strawberries for a luscious treat.

# What You Need:

→ Base

01 - 5.3 oz chocolate digestive biscuits or chocolate graham crackers, crushed
02 - 1.8 oz unsalted butter, melted

→ Cheesecake Filling

03 - 8.8 oz cream cheese, softened
04 - 2.8 oz powdered sugar
05 - 6.8 fl oz heavy cream, cold
06 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ Strawberry Layer

07 - 7 oz fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
08 - 1 tablespoon sugar, optional for macerating

→ Chocolate Ganache

09 - 2.8 oz dark chocolate, chopped
10 - 2.7 fl oz heavy cream

→ Garnish

11 - 6 whole strawberries
12 - Dark chocolate shavings, optional
13 - Crushed pistachios, optional

# Steps:

01 - Combine crushed chocolate biscuits with melted butter in a bowl until evenly moistened. Distribute mixture equally among six serving cups, pressing gently to create a compact foundation layer.
02 - Beat softened cream cheese with powdered sugar until smooth and lump-free. In a separate bowl, whip cold heavy cream with vanilla extract to soft peaks. Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture until fully incorporated and fluffy.
03 - Spoon or pipe prepared cheesecake filling evenly over biscuit bases in each cup, smoothing the surface with a spatula.
04 - Toss sliced strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar if desired. Let rest for 10 minutes to release juices. Distribute macerated strawberries evenly over cheesecake layer in each cup.
05 - Heat heavy cream until just beginning to simmer. Pour over chopped dark chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute without stirring. Stir until smooth and glossy. Cool slightly, then spoon a thin ganache layer over strawberries in each cup.
06 - Refrigerate cups for minimum 2 hours until ganache and cheesecake layers are completely set.
07 - Top each cup with a whole strawberry, chocolate shavings, and crushed pistachios if desired before serving.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • No baking required—just layering, chilling, and impressing everyone at the table.
  • The chocolate biscuit base stays crispy instead of soggy, which is the whole game-changer nobody talks about.
  • Each cup is individually portioned, so you can prep them days ahead and pull them from the fridge whenever you need dessert.
  • Fresh strawberries and dark chocolate ganache elevate this from simple to sophisticated without extra fuss.
02 -
  • Folding the whipped cream into the cheese mixture is where this succeeds or fails—if you overmix, you knock out all the air and end up with dense filling instead of that cloud-like texture.
  • The chocolate base needs to be completely cooled before you add the cream layer, or the butter will soften the filling; I learned this by accident and ended up with a slightly separated mess that still tasted good but wasn't pretty.
03 -
  • Make sure your cream cheese is truly softened to room temperature—even a little bit of chill will create lumps that won't fully incorporate.
  • The strawberry juice seeping into the cream layer is a feature, not a bug; it creates flavor complexity you'd never achieve otherwise.
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