Viral Chocolate

As someone who doesn't use TikTok (simply because I already have too many social media platforms to follow), I often find myself late to the party when it comes to viral food and beverages. The Dalgona coffee of the pandemic, the baked feta pasta that followed, the devilled egg flights more recently -- I eventually heard about them (and tried a few), but sometimes more than a year after the trend peaked. So, it shouldn't be surprising that it took a few months for the viral "Dubai chocolate bar" to come onto my radar. 

Actually called "Can’t Get Knafeh Of It," this thick bar filled with pistachio cream, tahini, and toasted kataifi originated at FIX Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai. Why it went viral over thousands of other bars in the world is anyone's guess. Yes, it was beautifully produced. It was also expensive. And the exclusivity factor -- at the time they were only available in Dubai and Abu Dhabi -- had its own exotic allure. Content creators who couldn't get their hands on one turned to making their own versions. One blogger noted that the DIY version became so popular that it caused a "nationwide pistachio cream shortage" (but didn't offer any proof of that claim). Curiosity sparked! 

No, I didn't make one myself. That would be too much of a commitment, even for me. I'd have to track down a Middle Eastern ingredient called kataifi that is similar to shredded phyllo pastry. I also didn't buy the original "Can't Get Knafeh Of It." It has been imported by shops in the United States (and perhaps in Canada), but it's still not particularly easy or quick to get. So, instead I bought a copycat bar that was imported from Istanbul, not Constantinople (if you know, you know). 

The bar arrived in a rather posh black box with gold foiling. Surprisingly, the chocolate was in perfect temper, with no evidence of bloom, despite its journey. Inside, as anticipated, was the crunchy kataifi filling with its characteristic green colour from the pistachio. Unlike many of the content creators online, I did not break the bar in half with my hands or crush it to make the filling ooze out. Instead, I used a hot knife to slice through it. Hopefully you appreciate the clean cut as much as I do. 

The flavour, I'm sorry to say, was unremarkable. The milk chocolate was smooth and not overly sweet. The filling had little flavour, which was unexpected. It would have benefitted from some something -- anything! -- that would have enhanced the flavour (more salt or sugar or tahini). The real appeal, however, was in the texture and the sound of the bar while biting through the layers. (Sorry, no ASMR video to share.) The crunch factor was off the charts and was the perfect foil to the smooth chocolate -- and that rather than the flavour is what made it moreish. Perhaps that is also why it went viral.   

Was it worth trying this bar? I suppose so. Would I go out of my way (or pocketbook) to have one again? Probably not. But if I'm out and about and happen to stumble upon kataifi, then perhaps I'll purchase it and try to make my own version in an effort to make a better bar. 

Until then, I hope your new year is off to a sweet start!

Fruit & Nut Bars

After a brief break from my chocolate study, in pursuit of other kitchen adventures (like Oven Porcupines and Cranberry Orange Muffins), I decided it was time to get back to it. This week's endeavour: transform the remains of a delicious milk chocolate Easter bunny.

Now, you may be wondering why one would want to transform an Easter bunny instead of just eating the Easter bunny. That's a fair question. The bunny was mostly solid and quite thick, so biting into it felt like it might damage the teeth. Instead, I found myself attacking it in rather gruesome fashion to chop it into more manageable pieces. I decided the best thing to do would be to melt it down and turn it into something else, like chocolate bark. And that's when I started thinking about some inclusions I had on hand in my chocolate stash. 

Over the years, I've experimented with a variety of freeze-dried fruits and berries. Most commonly, I've ground them into a powder and used them to create truffles and other chocolates, but I've always wondered what they would be like used whole or chopped into pieces. Would the texture be too dry and unpleasant? Would it be chewy or sticky? Could it be used to create a naked chocolate bar in the same way that dried fruit is? There was only one way to find out. 

I took a knife to the bunny and chopped it into small pieces. The milk chocolate chunks weighed 130g. Now, that's a very small amount of chocolate to work with and almost impossible to temper, but I decided not to add callets because I didn't want to waste ingredients if the experiment failed. With the chocolate prepared using the direct tempering method, I added about 8g of freeze dried blueberries and about 15g of chopped walnuts. I stirred them in and then poured the chocolate to a silicone bar mold. I had enough to make four small bars. I popped them into the fridge for 15 minutes and once they were set, I unmolded them. 

The result? Four tasty chocolate bars. While they have some of the characteristic shine of well-tempered chocolate, they also have a bit of a mottled finish as a result of using a silicone mold that can't be polished in the same way that polycarbonate molds can. Since these are a test, that doesn't bother me. The focus of this week's experiment, after all, is texture. 

I'm quite surprised to report that the freeze dried fruit is delicious in this application. As hard as it is to believe, I wasn't really able to tell that the blueberries were freeze dried. They had a bit of a chew, but not unpleasant, and they weren't dry or chalky at all. My fear that they would be unpalatable was unfounded.  

Fruit and nut is a classic combination. And using freeze dried fruit and berries is definitely worthy of further experimentation, particularly in chocolate bark. 

What fruit and nut combo would you like to see?