If you have been anywhere near social media in the last two years, you have seen it: a thick bar of chocolate snapped in half, a green filling and a crunch you can almost hear through the screen. “Dubai chocolate” went from a single shop in the United Arab Emirates to supermarket shelves across Europe remarkably quickly. Here is what it actually is, where it came from, and how the same idea works as a gelato. We make two flavours built on it at Luculus in Bratislava, so this is a subject we have spent a lot of time eating our way through.
The short answer
- What it is: a milk chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream, tahini and crisp kataifi pastry.
- Where it comes from: Fix Dessert Chocolatier, a chocolate brand in Dubai founded by Sarah Hamouda. The original bar is called “Can’t Get Knafeh of It”.
- Why it went viral: videos of the bar being broken open spread on TikTok in 2024, and demand far outran what the original maker could supply.
- Why it works: the contrast between smooth chocolate, rich pistachio and a sharp, crisp crunch.
Where Dubai chocolate came from
The bar was created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai. Its founder, Sarah Hamouda, built it around the flavours of knafeh (also written kunafa or künefe), a dessert loved across the Middle East and Turkey. For a long time it was sold only in Dubai, in small quantities, which is part of why it became so desirable once videos of it started circulating.
When the trend took off, copies appeared everywhere: other chocolatiers, bakeries, supermarkets and, inevitably, gelato makers. Today “Dubai chocolate” is used loosely for almost anything that combines chocolate, pistachio and kataifi.
What is inside it
- Milk chocolate for the shell.
- Pistachio cream, rich and slightly salty, which carries most of the flavour.
- Tahini (sesame paste), which adds depth and keeps the filling from tasting only sweet.
- Kataifi, finely shredded pastry toasted in butter until crisp. It is the same pastry used in knafeh, and in Turkish it is known as kadayıf.
The kataifi is the clever part. Most chocolate fillings are soft. This one shatters, and that contrast is what people are reacting to in all those videos.
How it becomes a gelato
Turning a chocolate bar into a gelato is not as simple as blending one into the other. Crunch is the hard part, because anything crisp that sits in a frozen, creamy base slowly softens. The flavours also need rebalancing: gelato is eaten cold, and cold mutes sweetness and aroma, so a recipe that tastes right as a bar tastes flat as a scoop.
Our Dubai Choco starts with a dense pistachio gelato, then adds soft pistachio cream and delicate crunchy kadayif, with crisp chocolate pieces for contrast. It is one of our best sellers.
We also make Kunefa, which goes back to the dessert that inspired the bar in the first place: creamy gelato with soft pistachio cream and crisp kadayif, closer to the buttery sweetness of the original than to chocolate.
Dubai chocolate vs. kunafa: what is the difference?
Knafeh, kunafa and künefe are names for a traditional dessert made with kataifi or semolina pastry, usually layered with cheese or cream and soaked in syrup. Dubai chocolate borrows its key ingredients, the pastry and the pistachio, and wraps them in chocolate. So one is a centuries-old dessert and the other is a recent chocolate bar inspired by it.
Is the pistachio important?
Very. Pistachio is the backbone of the flavour, and cheap pistachio pastes are often bulked out with other nuts, oil and colouring. Our pistachio gelatos, including Pistachio and Ciuri Ciuri, are made with Bronte pistachios from Sicily. We explain why that matters in our guide to Bronte pistachio.
Frequently asked questions
What is Dubai chocolate made of?
Milk chocolate filled with pistachio cream, tahini and crispy kataifi pastry.
Who invented Dubai chocolate?
It was created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai, founded by Sarah Hamouda. The original bar is called “Can’t Get Knafeh of It”.
Why is Dubai chocolate so popular?
Videos of the bar being broken open went viral on TikTok in 2024. The combination of smooth chocolate, rich pistachio and a crisp crunch is unusual and very satisfying, and limited availability made it even more sought after.
Is Dubai chocolate the same as kunafa?
No. Kunafa (knafeh, künefe) is a traditional dessert made with shredded pastry, cheese or cream and syrup. Dubai chocolate uses its pastry and pistachio inside a chocolate bar.
Where can I try Dubai chocolate gelato in Bratislava?
At Luculus. Our Dubai Choco and Kunefa are served in our shops on Hviezdoslavovo námestie 16 and 24, Panská 29 and Račianske mýto 5 during the season.
Sources
- TODAY: Why the viral Dubai chocolate bar is all over TikTok
- Khaleej Times: the viral pistachio kunafa chocolate
About this article. Written by the Luculus team in Bratislava. Luculus is a family-run ice cream parlour and patisserie that has been part of Hviezdoslavovo námestie since 1954 and today runs four shops in the city. The recipes are our own and are made in our own production. Last reviewed: October 2026.
