Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup
Add Preferred Source
The viral Dubai chocolate bar is a project, and eating one is a happy mess of shattering chocolate and pistachio filling down your wrist. This Dubai chocolate strawberry cup gives you the same four textures in something you can pass around and eat with a spoon. Halved strawberries, toasted kataifi folded through pistachio cream, and a glossy chocolate drizzle, layered in a clear glass or cup so every spoonful catches all of it at once.
I make these when I want the trend without the theatrics. The bar’s fun to break into once; the cups are what I want at a table full of people, because everyone gets their own and nobody’s fighting over the last crunchy corner. The one thing that makes or breaks them is how far you toast the kataifi, and I’ll show you exactly where to stop.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, if you purchase through those links, I earn a commission. Thank you!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Four textures land in one spoonful: the snap of set chocolate, the crunch of toasted kataifi, the creaminess of pistachio, and the juice of fresh strawberry.
- It comes together on the stovetop and in the microwave, so there is no oven and no baking to time.
- Layering it in clear cups or glasses means the strawberries and golden kataifi do the decorating for you.
- Individual portions make it easy to carry to a party, and easy to serve without slicing or plating anything.
- The whole thing takes about 35 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients You’ll Need
You’ll need all the ingredients shown in the photograph below.
- Kataifi (shredded dough). It’s the noodle-like pastry used to make kunafa, and it’s what gives this dessert its crunch. You’ll find it in the freezer section of Middle Eastern and many larger grocery stores, sometimes labeled kadaif or shredded phyllo. Chop it before it goes in the pan so the strands toast evenly instead of clumping.
- Pistachio cream. Does the heavy lifting on flavor here, and it comes both sweetened and unsweetened. Taste yours before you add anything. If it’s already sweetened, leave it alone; if it’s the plain kind, that’s when the couple of tablespoons of sugar in the card comes in. Buying the wrong one and sweetening it anyway is the most common way these end up sicklier than you want.
- Chocolate chips with a little coconut oil. They melt into a pourable drizzle that sets soft rather than seizing into a hard shell. The oil isn’t optional if you want it to layer and spoon cleanly.
- Strawberries. You want them to be ripe but firm. Very soft, watery berries will weep into the layers and soften the kataifi faster, and soft kataifi is the one thing that undoes this dessert. Halve them so they sit flat against the side of the cup. If you love strawberries in a sweet like this, they’re also the star of my easy strawberry cheesecake.
- Tahini. Optional and stirred into the pistachio mixture. It adds a faint sesame bitterness that keeps the filling from reading as purely sweet. Leave it out and the dessert’s still complete.
How to Make Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup
A complete printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.
Toast the Kataifi Dough
Toast the kataifi in butter until it is golden and crisp, then stir in the pistachio cream and optional tahini off the heat and let it cool in the pan for ten minutes.
The cue that matters is on the kataifi. You’re looking for the color of a well-baked pastry and an audible crunch when you stir, which takes around ten minutes over medium-high heat. Pull it pale, and it goes soft the moment the pistachio cream hits it.
Letting the mixture cool before it meets the strawberries is the other quiet step people skip, and it’s what keeps the fruit from steaming the crunch away.
Melt the Chocolate
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips with the coconut oil in short 30-second microwave bursts until smooth.
SERIOUSLY GOOD
DESSERTS!
Dessert First is a collection of 61 RECIPES to show you that you can make beautiful, impressive desserts right in your own kitchen, no matter your skill level.
Immediate eBook download. No physical book available.
Includes ad-free recipes like:
∙ Lemon Pound Cake
∙ Key Lime Bars
∙ Boston Cream Pie
∙ No-Bake Chocolate Lasagna
∙ Raspberry Cheesecake
...and much more!
Build the Layers
Place eight halves of strawberries at the bottom of each clear cup, two tablespoons of chocolate, three of the kataifi mixture, and repeat up to the rim, finishing with chocolate and crushed pistachios.
SERIOUSLY GOOD
DESSERTS!
Dessert First is a collection of 61 RECIPES to show you that you can make beautiful, impressive desserts right in your own kitchen, no matter your skill level.
Immediate eBook download. No physical book available.
Includes ad-free recipes like:
∙ Lemon Pound Cake
∙ Key Lime Bars
∙ Boston Cream Pie
∙ No-Bake Chocolate Lasagna
∙ Raspberry Cheesecake
...and much more!
Recipe Notes and Expert Tips
- Toast past the point that feels safe. Kataifi looks done before it’s done. Keep it moving in the butter until it’s properly golden and crisp rather than blond, because that toast is the only crunch in the dessert and it has to survive contact with cream and fruit.
- Let the kataifi mixture cool before layering. Warm filling against cut strawberries pulls juice out fast. Ten minutes in the pan off the heat is enough to stop the layers turning soggy on contact.
- Taste the pistachio cream before you sweeten. Sweetened and unsweetened versions look identical in the jar. Adding sugar to an already-sweet cream is what tips these from rich into cloying.
- Use clear cups. The layers are the look. A 12-ounce clear cup shows the red, gold, and dark brown stripes that make people want one, and it’s the difference between a dessert that photographs and one that just tastes good.
Recipe Variations
- If you don’t have pistachio cream in the house, Biscoff spread stands in for it and gives a caramel-and-spice note instead of nutty. It’s a swap other cooks use, though I haven’t tested it in this exact recipe, so treat the sweetness the same way and taste before adding sugar.
- Stirring the optional tahini into the pistachio mixture is how I make it when I want less sweetness, since the sesame cuts the richness a little. It’s already in the card, so you’re on tested ground there.
- Dark, milk, or white chocolate all work for the drizzle, and I’ve tested each. White reads sweeter and shows the pistachio green against it; keep the coconut oil either way so it stays pourable.
How to Store Leftovers
Assembled cups keep in the fridge for up to 2 days, and the kataifi softens over that time. That soft kataifi is the loss of the crunch that makes the dessert what it is, so keep the cups covered and chilled and eat them sooner rather than later.
This is a make-and-serve dessert far more than a make-ahead one, which is worth remembering if you’re used to something like a no-bake Oreo cheesecake that only gets better after a night in the fridge.
These are at their best the moment they’re assembled, while the kataifi still has its crunch. If you need to get ahead, do it by keeping the parts separate rather than building the cups early: toast the kataifi and stir in the pistachio cream, melt the chocolate, and halve the strawberries, then store each component on its own and assemble just before serving.
What to Serve With Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup
These are rich, so I like to serve them after a lighter meal rather than a heavy one, and often with something warm to drink alongside, like mint tea, which cuts through the sweetness. A scoop of plain vanilla ice cream on the side works if you want to make more of a dessert course of it, letting the cup stay the crunchy, showy element on the plate.
If you’re putting out a spread of sweet things, they sit well next to other pull-apart, no-slice desserts. A plate of homemade chocolate-covered strawberries echoes the strawberry-and-chocolate idea without repeating the crunch, and a bowl of no-bake strawberry mousse gives people a soft, spoonable option next to the crisp one.
FAQs
Each of the four cups in this recipe works out to about 674 calories, based on the ingredients as listed. That figure moves with how much chocolate and pistachio cream you use and whether you add the sugar, so treat it as a guide rather than an exact count.
Kataifi is a fine, spun pastry that toasts up into the crunch these cups depend on, and it’s the same dough used for kunafa. There’s no true substitute for that texture; shredded phyllo sold under names like kadaif is the same thing, so look for that rather than trying to swap in regular phyllo sheets, which won’t toast the same way.
Two usual causes: the kataifi was not toasted far enough to begin with, or warm filling met the strawberries and their juice softened the crunch. Toast the kataifi dough until it is crisp and deep golden, let the pistachio mixture cool before layering, and assemble as close to serving as you can.
Yes, but assemble at the last minute. Toast the kataifi and mix in the pistachio cream, melt the chocolate, and halve the berries up to a day ahead, store the parts separately, and build the cups just before you serve so the layers stay crisp.
More Easy Shareable Desserts to Try
If these cups were a hit, here are a few more spoonable and handheld sweets from the site that scratch the same itch.
- Simple Chocolate Mousse. Where I go when I want the same deep chocolate hit but soft and silky all the way through, with nothing to toast.
- Toblerone Mousse. My pick for a chocolate dessert that feels a little more special, say for a birthday or dinner with friends.
- Nutella Pizza. When you’re feeding a crowd of kids, this one puts strawberries and chocolate in a form everyone can grab a slice of.
- Ice Cream Sandwich. What I make on the days a frozen, hold-in-your-hand dessert beats a spooned one, especially in summer.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 ounces kataifi shredded dough chopped
- 1 cup sweetened pistachio cream if using unsweetened, add 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 2 tablespoons tahini optional
- 1 cup chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- 1 ½ pounds strawberries halved
- crushed pistachios
Video
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the chopped kataifi dough and cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and crispy—about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the pistachio cream and optional tahini, and let the mixture cool in the pan for 10 minutes.2 tablespoons butter, 4 ounces kataifi shredded dough, 1 cup sweetened pistachio cream, 2 tablespoons tahini
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and coconut oil. Microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until smooth and fully melted. Set aside.1 cup chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- In four clear 12-ounce cups, place about 8 strawberry halves at the bottom. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of melted chocolate over the strawberries to fill the gaps. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the kataifi mixture on top.1 ½ pounds strawberries
- Add another layer of strawberry halves near the top of each cup. Finish with a final spoonful of kataifi, a generous drizzle of the remaining chocolate, and a sprinkle of crushed pistachios.crushed pistachios
- Serve immediately or chill slightly before serving for a refreshing twist!
Notes
Nutrition
