The essence of a chocolate covered strawberry is all about the strawberry! You need that juicy, sweet strawberry flavor to be right there in front or there’s no point. And that is what I have here! Intense strawberry flavor, a little cream to soften things, and chocolate to round things out. Yum!
I knew as I began developing this drink that I needed a kick-ass, intense strawberry sauce. One that wasn’t too sweet, and also one that wasn’t too thick since I didn’t want all the strawberry flavor sitting at the bottom of the glass or requiring us to pull out our straws. Not for this drink at least. 🙂
It took me a few tries, but finally I came up with my Strawberry Vanilla Bean Syrup. The moment I smelled it as it cooked on the stove, I knew it was the winner. A little time spent dialing in on the right amount of sugar, and we had intense, amazing syrup. The foundation of the drink had arrived!
The next question was what to use for the chocolate flavor? A chocolate syrup? A chocolate liqueur? Creme de cacao?
Chocolate syrup was too heavy and sank. Nope to that one! Chocolate liqueur made the flavor muddy and obscured the strawberry. Remember the amazing strawberry syrup? No obscuring it, so nope to that one too! Creme de cacao kept the strawberry flavor bright and – in something that turned out to be very important – didn’t didn’t muddy up the color of the drink. I wanted a chocolate strawberry martini that was as pretty to look at as it was tasty to drink.
One look and one sip of my strawberry syrup + creme de cacao + vodka cocktail and I was almost convinced. It was almost there. And then I had it! A dollop of cream to round out the drink was the last little bit that put it over the top. Now I finally had the romantic chocolate covered strawberry martini of my dreams. And I hope it will be the martini of your dreams as well.
– Happy Drinking, Annemarie
- 4 oz strawberry vanilla bean syrup
- 2 oz vodka
- 1 oz creme de cacao
- 1 oz heavy cream
- red sugar optional
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Pour all ingredients into a shaker. Add ice. Shake until drink is cold and well mixed.
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Rim the glasses with red sugar. Pour out some sugar onto a plate. Wet the rims of the glasses with water and then dip the rims in the sugar to coat them all the way around.
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Divide the drink between the two glasses and enjoy!
Yes please! This looks phenomenal! (And your photos are gorgeous!) Can’t wait to give this a try.
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it. It really does taste like a chocolate covered strawberry. 🙂
Mmmmm this looks amazing!!! So easy too! Perfect Vday cocktail!
Thanks! I know I’ll be having one on Vday! 🙂
What? What? sounds and looks amazing…I LOVE the sparkly red sugar on the rim…so Valentines-y
Thanks! I thought the sugar rim gave it a little extra zip. 🙂
This looks super delicious! Perfect for Valentine’s Day!
Thank you!