Walk into a grocery store, and there are aisles of chocolate candy. It’s especially obvious around Valentine’s Day and Easter. This year, Dubai chocolate is in the sweet treat spotlight, trending everywhere from TikTok to Instagram and YouTube. What’s the big deal with it, and is it easy to learn how to make Dubai chocolate from home? Find out below.
How Dubai Chocolate Started Trending
When a TikTok user named Maria had the same expression as someone using Herbal Essence shampoo while eating the chocolate dessert, other TikTokers took notice. They wanted in on the greenish, gooey, chocolate bar that averaged about $20 in the United States. The main problem with getting one is it was exclusively made in Dubai. Although replicas are circulating on the usual e-commerce sites, the original Dubai chocolate bar is handmade, and that includes the art on the top of the chocolate bars. Sarah Hamouda of Fix Dessert Chocolatier and her team were making six or seven orders per day originally. Nowadays, they’re doing 100 orders per minute to be shipped via Deliveroo.
How To Make Dubai Chocolate
When Hamouda was asked about the secret ingredient in the Dubai chocolate bar, it was clear that she wasn’t giving it up. However, taste testers can recognize the basics: milk chocolate, pistachio cream, tahini and a shredded phyllo pastry called kunafa (knafeh). While the original recipe is still fairly private, one step in the right direction of making the Dubai chocolate bar is mastering making kunafa.
Ingredients in Kunafa
- 2 cups of granulated sugar
- 1-1/4 cups of water
- 1/4 cup of honey
- 1 teaspoon of lime juice
- Chose one of the three: 1 tablespoon of orange blossom water, 1 tablespoon of rose water or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 cups of whole fat milk
- 3-4 tablespoons of corn starch
- 3 ounces of sweet cheese (optional)
- 1 pound of knafeh
- 1 cup of ghee (melted butter butter separated into liquid fats and milk solids to remove the lactose)
Directions for Kunafa
- Over medium-high heat, pour sugar, water and honey into a saucepan.
- Let this mixture boil.
- Add lemon juice while it boils.
- Turn heat down to low, and allow all ingredients to simmer for 10 minutes.
- In a separate saucepan, whisk (cold) milk and cornstarch.
- Let the milk and cornstarch heat on the stove at a medium setting until it thickens and shows bubbles.
- Turn the heat off, and let the milk and cornstarch cool.
- Melt ghee in a saucepan.
- Take half of the thawed knafeh, and put it in a food processor.
- Repeat the food processor step with the other half. (Make sure it does not look powdery.)
- Pour 3/4 of the melted ghee onto the knafeh.
- Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After greasing a pan, spread one-half of knafeh on the plate. (Press hard with a measuring cup or another flat surface like a plate until it’s even throughout.
- Pour the pudding mixture on top with (optional) sweet cheese.
- Add the other half of knafeh on top, and use the same flat surface to spread it around evenly.
- Pour the leftover ghee on top.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes.
- Pour room temperature syrup on top of the baked dish.
Why Kunafa Matters for Dubai Chocolate
When TikTokers crack open the Dubai chocolate, it’s the crunchiness and the gooey texture inside that they’re after. The milk chocolate, pistachio cream and tahini are easy to buy in stores. The rest of the preparation process to make Dubai chocolate is guesstimated to be simple.
- With a dish suitable to melt chocolate, pour enough milk chocolate into a freezer-ready container.
- Allow it to freeze overnight.
- Then, spread the kunafa inside of the now-frozen milk chocolate, along with the pistachio cream and tahini.
- Finally, pour enough milk chocolate on the opposite side, and freeze the full bars so they’re compact.
- Once this is done, crack open the U.S. version of the Dubai chocolate bar, and try this homemade dessert.
Vegans and Vegetarians Won’t Miss Out on the Dubai Chocolate Trend
For plant-based enthusiasts, the good news is a considerable amount of ingredients can easily be substituted for non-dairy versions. Phyllo dough is already vegan, made from flour, water and oil, without any eggs nor dairy products. A preferred plant-based butter, almond or soy milk, and soaked cashews to make a vegan version of sweet cheese can replace all the dairy ingredients in Dubai chocolate bars. Melted dark chocolate can also take the place of milk chocolate. While a vegan Dubai chocolate bar may be slightly more bitter, due to the type of chocolate, than the other version, it’s still a fairly simple way to see what all the TikTok hype is about. And lacto-ovo vegetarians can try both to see which one is better.
The Final Dubai Chocolate Bar Test
Now “how to make Dubai chocolate bars” can be crossed off the to-do list. And if curiosity is still piquing the candy holders’ interests, order an original from Dubai and test all three.
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