Hello everyone and welcome back to another lactose free recipe. One of the most popular food trends in recent times is Dubai chocolate. It has absolutely exploded in popularity since its creation in 2021.
I am normally sceptical of food trends as they can be over hyped. Honestly I was pleasantly surprised with just how delicious Dubai chocolate is. Take a delicious chocolate bar and fill it with a mixture of pistachio, tahini and crispy kadayif. It creates a perfect mixture of sweet, crunchy, creamy and nutty.
You can make all sorts of Dubai chocolate inspired treats. For Halloween I decided to do something that was close to the original recipe but with a creepy Halloween twist. For these hearts you will need to use an anatomical heart silicone mold. You can buy them easily from Amazon and eBay. If you are making a decent amount I recommend buying multiple molds. I only had one so I had to make them one at a time. I do not recommend this.
The recipes here have been tested with lactose free ingredients multiple times to ensure their success and deliciousness. As always, this recipe is lactose free providing you use the right ingredients. Always make sure your ingredients are safe.
Always remember that if you fail it is a learning experience and not the end of the world. Baking is something that takes practice. Failures give you an opportunity to look at what went wrong and why. That knowledge and experience is so important for any baker regardless of skill level. Everyone starts somewhere.
Ingredients
Instructions
- The first step is to cook the kataifi until it is beautiful and crunchy. You can do this two ways, by roasting it gently in the oven or in a saucepan on the stove.
- The first way is to pour the kataifi into a nonstick frying pan over medium heat and toast until lightly golden brown. Keep stirring so the bottom doesn’t burn. Don’t fill up with pan too much. You may have to do several batches.
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For the second method preheat your oven to 190 °C. Pour the kataifi onto a nonstick baking tray. Place in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Take the kataifi out and gently stir. Place back in the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Check to see if the pastry is beautiful and golden. Keep stirring and baking until it reaches your desired colour. I prefer a light golden. Keep in mind it doesn’t take long to go from lightly golden to burnt.
- Leave to cool down.
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In a medium bowl add the pistachio paste, tahini and a few drops of the green gel food colouring.
- Mix well. If you notice that the filling is too thick you can always add in a few teaspoons of milk.
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Add in the kataifi and stir well.
- In a microwave bowl place, a good handful of the chocolate. Microwave on low for 20 seconds. Remove the bowl and stir with a metal spoon. If the chocolate hasn’t fully melted, you may need to microwave it further.
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Grab your moulds. Add a spoonful of the chocolate into each of the moulds. Use your spoon to cover the inside surface with the chocolate making sure to get into all the nooks and crannies.
- Place the hearts into the fridge until they harden, 30 minutes to an hour.
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Place a good spoonful of the pistachio fillings into the heart. Smooth down the best tat you can but be careful not to break the chocolate at the bottom. Make sure to leave a small gap at the top.
- If you are low on chocolate, simply melt more. If the chocolate has hardened, you can remelt it using very short bursts in the microwave.
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Fill the rest of the space up with the chocolate to completely cover the filling.
- Place the hearts into the fridge until they harden.
- When the chocolate top has hardened up you can remove the hearts from the silicone.
- Use your fingers to gently pull the sides of the mould away from the chocolate. Gently invert the heart and push so the heart pops out. If there is excess chocolate around the edges use a clean finger to genetly remove.
- Place the hearts into a clean container and place in the fridge until ready to be served.
- Keep making as many hearts as you want. You may need to melt more chocolate if you have run out.
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Congratulations you have made delicious anatomical Dubai chocolate hearts. Serve, devour and enjoy.
