Mascarpone Stuffed Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

If you are looking for a fancy and indulgent Valentines Day dessert, I’d recommend adding an exciting twist to a classic by making these Mascarpone cheese stuffed chocolate covered strawberries. They are simple and oh so delicious, and is their anything as gorgeous as a fresh, vibrantly red strawberry? And aren’t chocolate covered strawberries just a must on Valentines Day? If you want to add additional sweetness to the Mascarpone I’d recommend dusting the tops of the strawberries with powdered sugar after filling. The first batch I made of these I tried folding some powdered sugar into the Mascarpone and it changed the consistency of the Mascarpone and made it too runny to use as a filling. You can also use milk chocolate for dipping the strawberries if you’d prefer. If you want to add some crunch you can sprinkle some chopped pistachios over the dipped strawberries before the chocolate sets, yum!
Also, I’d love you to check out my Valentines Day entertaining feature over at Wisconsin Cheese. It was a delicious experience working with them to create some mouth watering cheese and chocolate pairings. As always, enjoy!

Core the strawberries like so…

…then fill and dip.

Mascarpone Stuffed Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh strawberries, washed and dried well
• 8 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 8 oz Mascarpone cheese
• chopped pistachios or toasted almonds or melted white chocolate, optional
• 
  

Directions

• Using a pairing knife cut stems off strawberries and core centers, being careful not to cut entirely through strawberries flesh. Spoon Mascarpone cheese into a piping bag or resealable bag and cut a tip off one corner of bag. Pipe Mascarpone into cored strawberries. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with wax paper, set aside.
• Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Heat chocolate, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth. Dip stuffed strawberries in melted chocolate and allow excess to run off. Transfer dipped strawberries to prepared baking sheet (if adding nuts, sprinkle nuts over chocolate coating before allowing chocolate to set). Transfer to refrigerator and chill until chocolate has set, about 15 minutes. Drizzle with melted white chocolate if desired. For best results serve immediately.