Dubai is known for its luxurious lifestyle, which extends to its chocolate. The city’s chocolatiers blend traditional ingredients with a dash of modern techniques to create chocolate that’s not just a treat, but an experience. If you’ve been on TikTok at all in the last year, you’ve undoubtedly seen these thick chocolate bars with sticky, crunchy green filling sweeping your feed. You might have also heard that it’s incredibly expensive. At up to $63 dollars a bar, the idea that it’s more financially (and emotionally) rewarding to learn how to make Dubai chocolate at home is an easy conclusion to come to.
Making Dubai chocolate yourself allows you to experiment with these unique ingredients and techniques, resulting in a more personalized creation. You’ll need a few ingredients – chocolate, kataifi dough, and pistachio paste to name a few – plus a chocolate mold and a bit of patience. However, once you nail this Dubai chocolate recipe, you’ll be able to enjoy this trendy treat whenever you like. Plus, you’ll definitely impress your friends with it if you choose to gift it out.
The Origin of The Dubai Chocolate Bar and the TikTok Trend
If you’re not caught up on this trend, here’s what you need to know about Dubai chocolate, and its creator, Fix Dessert Chocolatier.
Founded in Dubai in 2021 by British-Egyptian entrepreneur Sarah Hamouda, Fix Dessert Chocolatier is where this whole trend got started. Hamouda’s vision was to create chocolate confections that no one else had thought of, focusing on fillings as a way to set her company apart from competitors. Thus was born “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” – what would become popularly known as Dubai chocolate. The inspiration for this combination of pistachio, crunchy dough filling, and tahini together with chocolate? Her pregnancy cravings.
On December 18, 2023, a major shift took place in her company when an influencer by the name of mariavehera257 posted a video of herself sampling various treats from the chocolatier – including the now famous Dubai chocolate. The video took off, and soon everyone wanted to get their hands on this vibrant green, crunchy confection. That increased demand resulted in a surplus of 30,000 orders. There was so much traffic that the delivery platform was not capable of handling the influx of guests, and it caused a sitewide crash for a short period of time. A year later, the original video has garnered over 100 million views, and several other influencers jumped on board and created videos of themselves eating the chocolate.
How To Make Dubai Chocolate Bars
Creating Dubai chocolate involves a deep dive into the rich traditions and innovative techniques that make this Middle Eastern delicacy unique. We’ll explore the key ingredients, the step-by-step process, and some delicious variations you can try at home.
Key Ingredients
- Milk Chocolate
- Butter
- Kataifi Dough
- Pistachio paste
- Food Coloring
- Tahini
- White Chocolate (Optional)
Brown the kataifi: First, the kataifi dough needs to be browned. You will need to cut the shredded kataifi dough into shorter strands to fill the chocolate bar. Then melt butter in a nonstick frying pan on medium heat. Stir the kataifi until it is brown, allowing your kataifi to get crispy. That crispiness helps to add a lot to the texture of the chocolate bar. According to TikTok videos, take the mixture off the heat mix it with pistachio paste and tahini to create a kataifi-covered pistachio cream. Finally, set the bowl aside while you work on preparing the chocolate, letting the mixture cool.
Prepare the chocolate: You will need two pots to melt the milk chocolate as well as the white chocolate separately. Add a drop of food coloring to the melted white chocolate, and mix to obtain the color you want. Since food color doesn’t have any flavor, you can get creative and use whatever color you want. Alternate drizzling the colored white chocolate to the inside of a chocolate bar mold, followed by enough melted milk chocolate to comfortably cover the bottom layer of the mold. Make sure not to use much milk chocolate, because you have another layer of chocolate coming up. Place your first layer of chocolate in the freezer for ten minutes.
Assemble in layers: Remove the now solidified chocolate from the freezer, before adding in the pistachio cream with kataifi. You can use the back of a spoon to push the pistachio filling around to ensure you’re getting in the nooks and crannies. Make sure to flatten and level the filling, and then add a top layer of milk chocolate. Place the molds back in the freezer for another ten minutes, or until the chocolate is completely set. Remove the mold carefully, and it’s time to eat.
Experiment With Flavor
Once you’ve learned how to make Dubai chocolate, it’s time to put your own spin on it. You can add chopped dates and roasted almonds into the chocolate before pouring it into molds if you want your Dubai chocolate even crunchier. Or, get extra gourmet with it by infusing the chocolate with saffron threads and a few drops of rose water. Flaky salt is perfect for those salty-sweet lovers. Mix spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and a small amount of cayenne pepper into the filling for an additional spicy kick.
Sprinkle the top of the chocolate bars with rose petals, chopped pistachios, gold leaf, edible mica powder, or anything you want to give it an extra aesthetic twist. If you’re giving the bars as a gift, spell the recipient’s name out on the top of the bar, either in molded chocolate letters or written out in piped chocolate. It’ll make for a personalized present your girlfriends will talk about for months.
Different Ways You Can Store Dubai Chocolate
Did you know Dubai chocolate can last several weeks to a few months, depending on how it’s stored? If you store the chocolate at room temperature in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight, homemade Dubai chocolate bars will stay fresh longer. It can last for up to two weeks. The refrigerator is the best option if you store the chocolate in an airtight container in the fridge to maintain shape and texture. Due to the hot weather in Dubai, keeping the chocolate in the fridge is often necessary to keep it from melting – this might be necessary where you live, too. In case you didn’t know, use an airtight container to prevent it from absorbing fridge odors.
Lastly, if you want the Dubai chocolate to last longer than two months, you will need to place it in the freezer. Store the Dubai chocolate in a plastic storage container or zip-lock bag and seal it tightly, ensuring there’s no air or moisture in the container. Frozen Dubai chocolate bars can last up to three months. After this, freezer burn will degrade the quality of the chocolate.
Why does Dubai Chocolate expire in 3 days?
Depending on where you get it, Dubai chocolate has a notoriously short shelf life. Even when you make it yourself, the pistachio and other fillings might lose some of their crunch over time, and your chocolate might start to ‘bloom’, which is when little white patches appear on the surface of the chocolate. This isn’t dangerous to eat, but it will reduce the quality. If bought right from a confectioner, Dubai chocolate needs to be consumed in three days, because each chocolate is handmade by a small team of people. Each batch they make is small, and the shelf life is only for three days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the green stuff in the Dubai Chocolate?
The green stuff in the chocolate is pistachio cream. Dubai chocolate is a chocolate bar with a pistachio-tahini filling and crispy kataifi dough.
Does Tahini taste like peanut butter?
No, Tahini has a distinct, earthy, nutty flavor primarily from toasted sesame seeds, whereas peanut butter has a sweeter taste from peanuts, and usually contains added sugar and salt to enhance its flavor;
What is Knafeh?
It is found in traditional Arab dessert made with kadayif which is a spun pastry dough layered with cheese, and sweet sugar syrup called attar. It is very popular in the Arabic culture. It is served during special occasions and holidays.