Homemade Dubai chocolate bar with kataifi and pistachio cream

The Dubai chocolate bar became famous for one thing: the crunch. Under a thin chocolate shell sits a thick filling of golden, crisp kataifi strands bound with sweet pistachio cream. At home, the most reliable way to get that texture is to start with ready-roasted kataifi, which stays crunchy inside the bar. The only real technique is tempering the chocolate, so the bar is glossy, snaps cleanly and releases from the mould. This recipe makes 2 bars of about 230 g each.

Ingredients (2 bars, moulds about 16 × 8 cm)

  • 300 g milk or dark chocolate (couverture), chopped
  • 100 g roasted kataifi
  • 150 g pistachio cream (spread)
  • 30 g pure pistachio paste (optional, for a stronger flavour)
  • 15 g tahini (optional)
  • 1 g fine salt

Method

  1. Clean and dry two bar moulds of about 16 × 8 cm. Any water or grease spoils the shine.
  2. Temper the chocolate: melt 200 g over a water bath to 45 °C, stir in the remaining 100 g chopped chocolate and keep stirring until it cools to 29–30 °C for milk chocolate or 31–32 °C for dark chocolate.
  3. Pour about 60 g chocolate into each mould, tilt it to coat the base and sides, then turn the mould over to let the excess run back into the bowl. Scrape the edges clean and chill for 10 minutes.
  4. Break the roasted kataifi into pieces of 1–2 cm. Mix it with the pistachio cream, pistachio paste, tahini and salt. The filling should be thick and crunchy, not wet.
  5. Divide the filling between the moulds, about 140 g each, and press it flat 2 mm below the rim.
  6. Warm the remaining chocolate briefly back to working temperature, without going above it. Pour it over the filling to seal the bars and scrape the top flat.
  7. Chill for 20–30 minutes, until the chocolate pulls away from the mould. Turn the bars out.
  8. Let the bars reach room temperature before cutting them with a warm, dry knife.

Tips

  • Do not skip tempering: untempered chocolate stays dull, sticks to the mould and melts in your hand. If you do not want to temper, use compound (coating) chocolate, which only needs melting.
  • Roasted kataifi needs no thawing and no damp cloth. Keep the opened pack tightly closed in a dry place so the strands stay crisp.
  • No roasted kataifi? Thaw raw kataifi in the fridge, chop 100 g into 1–2 cm pieces and toast it in a pan with 30 g butter over medium heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until golden. Cool it completely before mixing.
  • Mix the filling just before you fill the moulds, and never add warm cream: moisture softens the strands.
  • Store the bars wrapped, in a cool, dry place at 15–18 °C, and eat them within 5 days, while the filling is still crunchy.

Which products to use

For the filling use our roasted kataifi, which is ready to use, and our pistachio creams (16 % pistachios). We also make Dubai chocolate kits and ready filling to order. The background of the trend is in our article about Dubai chocolate.

For chocolatiers and pastry shops

At 50 g roasted kataifi per bar, 1 kg fills about 20 bars. Roasted kataifi keeps 24 months at +5…+25 °C away from direct sunlight, so you can hold stock for steady production. Packs from 1 to 20 kg, larger lots and private label from 1 tonne: see our wholesale page.