Viral Dubai Chocolate Bar

The Viral Dubai Chocolate Bar is filled with pistachio cream, crunchy kataifi and tahini. It offers a ton of flavor and unique textures.

This chocolate bar has been going viral on TikTok for well over a year and people are paying insane amounts of money to get the original Dubai chocolate bar shipped from the original chocolatier (Fix Dessert) who popularized this treat.

Recipe Highlights

This viral chocolate bar is all about the texture. The Kataifi is toasted in butter and smothered in pistachio cream and tahini; it's a flavor and texture explosion.

This Dubai chocolate bar is unique and if you love pistachio is definitely a must try.

Ingredients

The list of ingredients includes specialty items such as pistachio cream and kataifi. I'll give you a through breakdown of each ingredient and where to source it.

• Kataifi: These ingredient consist of strands of a delicate pastry dough. It resembles a web of thin spaghetti and you will find this at Mediterranean grocer in the freezer section.
• Pistachio cream: I first discovered pistachio cream on a visit to Italy when I tried a layered pistachio cream cheesecake in a jar that was absolutely decadent. Think of pistachio cream as Nutella but made with pistachios and white chocolate instead of hazelnuts. When you look for pistachio cream find one that has pistachios, oil, milk powder and a sweetener.
• Chocolate: Oh chocolate! This is the trickiest part to get right in this recipe. In order to get a nice-looking, shiny chocolate bar, you will need to temper your chocolate. I will explain in detail how to do it. After many trial and errors, I found semi-sweet chocolate to be the best for easy tempering.
• Tahini: I've purchased a version of the Dubai Chocolate Bar at a Mediterranean store and found the flavor of Tahini to be a bit overpowering. In this version, I lighten up the tahini quantity but feel free to add more if you want to. Tahini is a butter made from sesame seeds. The taste is earthy and nutty.
• Unsalted butter: This ingredient is used to toast the Kataifi strands and make them crunchy so when you bite into the chocolate bar you get the creamy pistachio and crunchy kataifi textures.

Things you will need

I recommend using a light-colored skillet to toast the kataifi, that way you can keep an eye on how much and how fast it is browning and avoid burning it.

A silicone mold, I found mine at Walmart. Look for a silicone mold that is not too deep but also can hold enough of the filling.

You can buy the pistachio cream and kataifi online. It looks like the kataifi found only is already dried so no need to thaw it and might be faster to toast.

A silicone spatula is also super useful for spreading the chocolate into the molds and necessary to stir the tempered chocolate.

How to make it

This recipe includes multiple steps and I tested a few times to make sure you get the best chocolate bar possible; one that has a nicely tempered chocolate coating that snaps when you bite into it and a filling that is creamy and crunchy at the same time.

Prepare the Kataifi filling

You will need to thaw the Kataifi pastry for 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the fridge.

Cut the Kataifi using a knife to chop it finely. It doesn't need to be super precise.

Melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold the amount of kataifi you will use to make the chocolate bar. You might have to toast it in multiple batches if making more than the 2 chocolate bars this recipe yields.

My kataifi came in a 16 oz. package but each bar only requires about 2 oz. of filling.

You will need to keep a watchful eye when toasting the kataifi and stir it constantly. It is very thin and burns easily.

Once the kataifi is toasted, combine with the pistachio cream and the tahini.

Temper your chocolate

Ok here is where things can take a wrong turn, but I messed up a full batch of chocolate so you don't have to!

My number one tip is to temper the chocolate in small batches. Here is a very detailed video resource on how to temper chocolate with the seeding method.

I highly recommend using the microwave, a silicone spatula and a small plastic or silicone bowl. I worked in 2 batches, one for the bottom of the bar and another batch of chocolate to cover the kataifi filling.

I tried to temper milk chocolate chips using the Bain Marie method and failed miserably. The microwave was by far the most effective method for me.

Once your chocolate is temper use a layer to cover the bottom of the silicone mold and the sides evenly. Tap the mold to remove air bubbles and get the chocolate to set neatly.

If your chocolate is properly tempered, it will fully set at room temperature and give you a beautiful glossy finish.

Add the pistachio kataifi filling

Your pistachio filling will remain crunchy if you have toasted the kataifi properly.

Add a spoonful of the filling to the chocolate mold on top of the already set first layer of chocolate. Leave a bit of space in the mold to add the second, thin layer of chocolate to encase the pistachio filling.

Chill the mold for a few minutes to allow the pistachio filling to set before adding the last chocolate layer.

Add more chocolate

Add the last layer of tempered chocolate on top and use a spatula (I used a silicone spatula) to smooth it out.

The bar can be left at room temperature to set the top layer. If properly tempered the chocolate will harden in a beautiful shiny shell that doesn't melt or leave fingerprints when you touch it.

Helpful tips and trouble shooting

Most people experience difficulty with temperating the chocolate. If you don't temper the chocolate correctly your bar will melt easily but it will still taste great.

So don't worry too much about it specially if you will eat it right away.

I recommend using silicone utensils to help with spreading the chocolate. Don't forget to cover the sides of the mold with a chocolate layer as well.

If you toast the kataifi correctly your filling will stay crunchy. Make sure to stir constantly and pay close attention to how toasted it gets.

Storage

Since I bought a 16 oz. kataifi package I had leftover. I just kept it in the fridge and made other preparations. Next time I will only use half and keep the rest frozen.

Once you make the pistachio filling, if you have leftovers, store them in the fridge in airtight container.

If you have chocolate bars left over, keep them stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7 days.