Last Updated:February 13, 2026, 11:39 IST

A mix of strawberries, almonds and chocolate, this dessert can be a testament of your love.

Indulge in a dessert that is bursting with strawberries and chocolate

This Valentine’s Day, your love deserves a dessert that melts hearts like chocolate under flame. Add ripe strawberries and delicate almonds, and this is the ultimate love triangle on a plate.

Strawberries evoke tender sensuality with their juicy, heart-shaped allure and subtle tartness, nature’s kiss of romance. Dark chocolate, with its 70% cocoa depth, unleashes mood-boosting phenylethylamine—the “love chemical”—for euphoric indulgence that lingers like stolen glances. Delicate almonds add whisper-soft crunch and nutty warmth, their vitamin E-rich butteriness balancing sweetness while echoing almond blossoms of eternal devotion.

This trifecta harmonises perfectly: strawberry’s brightness cuts chocolate’s richness, and almonds’ toastiness grounds the pairing, creating textural poetry. This is a plated dessert by Chef Vikas Kumar, Executive Pastry Chef, JW Marriott Hotel Pune celebrates the harmony of ripe strawberries, intense dark chocolate, and delicate almond notes.

Fraise Noire Exquise Recipe 

To make Chocolate Almond Biscuit

Ingredients

• Almond powder – 80 g

• Icing sugar – 80 g

• Whole eggs – 2

• Egg whites – 2

• Caster sugar – 40 g

• Dark chocolate (70%), melted – 60 g

• Butter, melted – 40 g

• Flour – 30 g

Method

• Whisk the almond powder, icing sugar, and whole eggs until light and fluffy.
• Incorporate the melted dark chocolate and butter until smooth.
• Gently fold in the sifted flour.
• Separately, whip the egg whites with caster sugar to soft peaks and fold carefully into the mixture.
• Spread evenly and bake at 170°C for 10–12 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting the base.

To make Strawberry Confit Insert

Ingredients

• Strawberry purée – 200 g

• Sugar – 40 g

• Lemon juice – 5 g

• Pectin NH – 5 g

Method

• Heat the strawberry purée with sugar until warm.
• Add the pectin NH and bring to a boil, cooking for 1 minute.
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Pour into a 14 cm ring and freeze until fully set.

To make Dark Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

• Dark chocolate (70%) – 200 g

• Milk – 120 ml

• Gelatin – 6 g (bloomed)

• Whipping cream – 250 g (semi-whipped)

Method

• Heat the milk and dissolve the bloomed gelatin completely.
• Pour over the dark chocolate and emulsify until smooth and glossy.
• Allow the mixture to cool to 35°C, then gently fold in the semi-whipped cream to achieve a light, airy mousse.

To assemble the dessert

• Line an 18 cm ring with acetate.
• Pipe the dark chocolate mousse halfway into the mold.
• Insert the frozen strawberry confit at the center.
• Cover with additional chocolate mousse.
• Finish by placing the chocolate almond biscuit as the base.
• Freeze completely before demoulding and finishing.