I’m known among my friends for never changing up my two-scoop gelato order of pistachio and chocolate, no matter how many times I say I will. The flavor combination is one of my favorites: If I come across a croissant, cake, or cookie with pistachios and chocolate, it automatically has my name on it. There’s just something so pleasing about the combination of bittersweet chocolate and rich, nutty pistachio that I can’t seem to get enough of.
That combination is even more delicious when you add kataifi, a crisp shredded phyllo dough, which is exactly what Sarah Hamouda, the founder of Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, did. Her confection, named “Can’t Get Knafeh of It,” is a nod to traditional Middle Eastern knafeh, a phyllo pastry filled with salty cheese that’s bathed in a fragrant rose syrup and orange blossom syrup and garnished with pistachios. Hamouda’s spin on the dessert is a milk chocolate bar filled with a mixture of pistachio cream and kataifi. Ever since an ASMR-style TikTok video of the chocolate bar went viral, people have flocked to social media to share their homemade versions of Hamouda’s creation, and many pastry chefs have even begun selling similar creations to profit off the hype.
You could, like many other people, recreate the famous confection at home, but making chocolate bars from scratch can be challenging. Not only do you have to temper chocolate—a meticulous process that gives chocolate its glossy sheen and firm snap—but you also need special molds. So we decided to reimagine the flavors of the Dubai chocolate bar as an easier but no less delicious dessert: a tart.
To mimic the flavors and textures of the popular chocolate bar, our Birmingham, Alabama–based test kitchen colleague Craig Ruff incorporates cocoa powder into our simple pat-in-the-pan tart crust and fills it with a mixture of browned kataifi, toasted pistachios, and pistachio cream for a beautifully paired textural combination that has both creamy and crunchy elements. A touch of tahini complements the nuttiness of the pistachios and brings additional richness. Topped with a silky chocolate ganache and chopped toasted pistachios, the tart is everything you could want in a dessert—especially if you’re a chocolate and pistachio lover like me.
3 Key Techniques for Making an Impressive Dubai Chocolate Tart
Toast the kataifi. To bring out the kataifi’s nutty flavor, we toast it in some butter until lightly golden. This sets off the Maillard reaction, a series of chemical reactions that occurs when heat transforms proteins and sugars into complex aromas and flavors.
Use a good quality pistachio paste.The flavors of pistachio paste vary brand to brand: Some might be slightly saltier, while others may be sweeter. The color can differ, too—this won’t impact its flavor, but it may give the dessert a slightly duller look that isn’t as eye-catching. Look for a smooth pistachio paste that’s slightly thicker than tahini, like Marco Colzani Pistacchi spread, which has a lovely bright green hue and a pistachio-forward flavor. Since the tart leans heavily on the flavor of the pistachio paste, it’s worth picking out a quality product. If you’re up for it, you can also make your own pistachio paste, which will give you more control over the consistency and flavor.
Reach for bittersweet chocolate when making the ganache. To offset some of the pistachio paste’s sweetness, we prepared the ganache with bittersweet chocolate, which prevents the dessert from becoming cloyingly sweet. We also added a tablespoon of corn syrup to help the ganache remain fluid, which makes it easier to spread over the tart.
For the Crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC). In a large bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt together. Pour butter and water into the flour mixture and, using a flexible spatula, stir until well combined and a uniform dough forms.
Using your hands, pinch off and distribute 3/4 of dough over bottom of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough to an even thickness in the bottom of the pan. Pinch the remaining dough into smaller pieces and scatter evenly around the edge of the pan, then press dough into fluted sides of the pan. Press dough to even thickness until sides are completely covered.
Place the lined tart pan on a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrant and firm to touch, 25 to 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Set aside until ready to fill.
For the Filling: In a 12-inch skillet, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat until foamy. Add kataifi pastry and cook, stirring often and breaking up clumps with a wooden spoon until browned, about 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and let rest at room temperature until cooled, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place pistachios on a 9- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring halfway through, until lightly browned and fragrant, 8 to 10 minutes. Add toasted pistachios to kataifi bowl along with pistachio paste, tahini, and salt. Using a flexible spatula, gently fold to combine. Transfer mixture into prepared chocolate tart crust, and, using an offset or flexible spatula, spread into an even layer; set aside.
Place chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan, combine heavy cream, corn syrup, and remaining 1 tablespoon butter to a simmer over medium heat, about 4 minutes. Pour over chocolate and let stand until chocolate softens, 1 minute, and stir until stir until smooth. Cool chocolate mixture until warm but still pourable (100 to 105ºF or 38 to 40ºC), about 3 minutes.
Pour chocolate mixture over pistachio layer, and using an offset or flexible spatula, spread into an even layer. Refrigerate, uncovered, until ganache is set, about 1 hour. Garnish with chopped pistachios and flaky sea salt.
Special Equipment
9-inch tart pan, 12-inch skillet, 9- by 13-inch rimmed baking sheet
Make-Ahead and Storage
The chocolate crust can be substituted with a regular crust.
You can find kataifi at many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets, often in the frozen pastry aisle.