Dubai Chocolate Bar Recipe: Pistachio Kataifi Filling in a Tempered Shell

Short answer: the Dubai chocolate bar is a chocolate shell filled with pistachio cream and crunchy kataifi pastry. The original, "Can't Get Knafeh of It" by FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, uses a milk chocolate shell with knafeh, pistachio and tahini paste. To make it: toast the kataifi in butter, blend pistachios into a paste, mix the two, then fill tempered chocolate shells in a deep bar mould and close them with more chocolate.

Quick answer: what you need

Need	Product	Price
Bar mould, 14 mm deep, 3 bars of about 100 g	Pavoni Moulin PC5009	$46.99
Sharing slab, 20 mm deep, about 600 g	Pavoni Maxi Choco PC5051	$46.99
Chocolate for the shell	Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, 5 kg	$273.00
Check the tempering temperature	Martellato digital thermometer 50T001	$29.95
Green colour painted in the mould	Pavoni Chocolart green cocoa butter	$79.99

What is Dubai chocolate?

Dubai chocolate is a filled chocolate bar that went viral from Dubai. According to Pastry Arts Magazine (November 2025), Sarah Hamouda founded FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai in 2021, and its bar "Can't Get Knafeh of It" is a milk chocolate shell filled with crispy knafeh, pistachio and tahini paste. Chef Nouel Catis says he created the bar, so its authorship is disputed. The bar went viral through a TikTok video by influencer Maria Vehera, eating three FIX bars.

For a producer, the appeal is clear: it is a moulded, filled bar, so it uses the same equipment as any shell-moulded chocolate.

Ingredients (3 small bars)

This base recipe is adapted from Chef Namrata Sanwal's recreation published in Gulf News (May 2024). It makes 3 small bars; scale it to your mould (see the AI section below).

Ingredient	Quantity	Role
Dark chocolate	200 g	Shell and cap
Kataifi pastry (or shredded filo sheets)	60 g	Crunch
Pistachios	100 g	Pistachio cream
Sugar	30 g	Pistachio cream
Butter	20 g	Toasting the kataifi
Dry food colour	Optional	Finish

For the taste of the original, use milk chocolate for the shell and add tahini to the pistachio paste, as FIX does. Gulf News also suggests a mix of dark and milk chocolate.

Equipment

A Dubai bar needs a deep cavity so the filling has room under the shell. Pavoni Italia's catalogue even has a bar mould named Dubai, the PC5078: 3 bars of about 200 g, 150 × 70 × 18 mm each. In-stock Pavoni bar moulds that suit the recipe:

• Moulin PC5009 → 3 bars of about 100 g, 154 × 77 × 14 mm, by Vincent Vallée. $46.99 CAD
• Maxi Choco PC5051 → one slab of about 600 g, 250 × 150 × 20 mm, by Davide Comaschi, for a sharing bar. $46.99 CAD

Both are Pavoni Tritan moulds, BPA free. You will also need a thermometer, a food processor for the pistachios, a pan, a palette knife and a scraper such as the Martellato stainless-steel chocolate scraper ($36.95 CAD) to clean the top of the mould.

View all chocolate bar moulds →

Step-by-step Dubai chocolate bar recipe

Step 1: Toast the kataifi

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat, add the kataifi and toss often until golden brown. Let it cool completely.

Step 2: Make the pistachio cream

Blend the pistachios and sugar into a smooth paste. Shortcuts from the Gulf News recipe: a store-bought pistachio spread, or a hazelnut or almond spread for a variation.

Step 3: Temper the chocolate

Temper the chocolate following the curve its maker publishes, and check it before moulding: dark chocolate on a palette knife should set within about seven minutes, with no streaks.

Chocolate	Melt	Crystallise	Work at
Bassan Sur del Lago 71%	50°C (122°F) maximum	—	30–32°C (86–90°F)
FCH 55% dark (Venezuela)	45–50°C (113–122°F)	28–29°C (82–84°F)	31–32°C (88–90°F)

The product instructions for the Bassan 71% call for a work room at 16–20°C (61–68°F) and for the tempered chocolate to be used within four hours. For the method, read how to temper chocolate.

Step 4: Make the shells

Optional colour first: brush tempered green cocoa butter into the cavities for a coloured top. The product instructions for Pavoni's Chocolart colours are to melt them at 45°C (113°F) and temper them to 28–30°C (82–86°F) before applying them to moulds.

Spread the tempered chocolate evenly into the moulds and pour out the excess so a shell remains. Scrape the top of the mould clean. Gulf News chills the shells for about 20 minutes to set.

Step 5: Fill

Mix the pistachio cream with the toasted kataifi and fill the shells, leaving room for the cap.

Step 6: Close the bars

Cover the filling with more tempered chocolate and scrape the mould clean. Gulf News chills the bars for 15–20 minutes before demoulding.

Step 7: Demould and finish

Demould and serve as they are, or dust with dry colour. Pavoni's Brilliant metallic powders can be used dry for this, for example Brilliant gold M01SB, 40 g ($56.99 CAD).

For more on shells and fillings in layers, read layered effects in molded chocolate and how to mould chocolate.

How AI can help your production

Give an AI assistant the base recipe above and the weight of your mould's bars (about 100 g for the Moulin, about 600 g for the Maxi Choco) and ask it to scale the filling and chocolate to the number of moulds you plan to run, keeping the same proportions. Ask it to cost each bar from your ingredient prices, so you can set a retail price before your first batch, and to turn the steps into a timed production sheet for your team.

AI organises the information; tasting and the final decision stay with your chef.

Dubai chocolate supplies at Zucchero Canada

We are an authorized distributor of Pavoni Italia and Martellato, based in Calgary. Pavoni bar moulds give you the deep cavity the filling needs and Pavoni colours the finish; Martellato gives you the thermometer and the scraper.

For the shell, Bassan Sur del Lago 71% is made in Canada from Venezuelan cacao (5 kg bag, or 20 kg case at $880.00), and FCH 55% dark (10 kg box, $299.00 CAD) is made from Venezuelan Trinitario cacao.

View dark couverture →

Moulds, colours and tools count toward free shipping on orders of CAD 300 or more within Canada; chocolate is excluded from free shipping, and food products ship within Canada only. Orders over CAD 500 get 5% off automatically at checkout. Making Dubai bars for a shop or café? Contact our team or call 587-774-8873 (toll free 877-741-8251).

Chocolate bar moulds | Coloured cocoa butter | Dark couverture | How to temper chocolate | Tempered vs untempered

This article is for information only. Every business is different: draw your own conclusions based on your own expectations, budget and goals, and talk to qualified experts before you decide or invest.

Sources: C. Mays, "Dubai Drama", Pastry Arts Magazine, November 2025; N. Sanwal, "Dubai's Pistachio Kunafah Bar: the viral sensation you need to try", Gulf News, May 2024; P. Greweling, "Tempering Chocolate", Pastry Arts Magazine, Summer 2024; Pavoni Italia Food Equipment 2026 catalogue (bar moulds PC5078, PC5009, PC5051; colours); product data for Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, FCH 55% dark, Pavoni Chocolart colours and Martellato tools (zuccherocanada.ca).