by Leshawn Ninham
Pulse Writer
Trends come and go yearly, especially food trends, and this year’s biggest food trend is clearly the Dubai chocolate, which has taken social media by a tropical hurricane. The topic Dubai chocolate has racked up millions of posts on TikTok and Instagram. It has also received its own hashtag, which shows how popular it is on its own.
What is Dubai chocolate, some might ask? What is it even made of? Well, the Dubai chocolate bar is a milk chocolate bar, often decorated with edible gold, green and yellow-colored white chocolate drizzles for a festive touch. And the main attraction, which is pistachio cream, is composed of pistachio butter (kinda like peanut butter but made of pistachios) and then mixed with condensed milk or a type of cream. Then the pistachio cream is mixed with kataifi, which are the DNA ingredients of the Dubai chocolate bar. The Dubai chocolate bar itself is made by different brands and sellers; some make them as a thinner Hershey-like chocolate bar, and some make them thicker.
Well, I asked around to see if the Dubai chocolate bar was still buzzing in people’s minds, as it has been buzzing online, and the answer might surprise you. Most of our hungry high school peers craved a more savory dish like “Wingstop.” A few actually did mention sweets and chocolate bars, for instance, one said, “I actually recently bought an angel hair chocolate bar online,” which is a Dubai chocolate-inspired chocolate bar. It is a normal milk chocolate but has a filling of “angel hair” candy, which is actually a delicate, spun candy called pişmaniye, a traditional Turkish sweet similar to cotton candy or fairy floss, but with a more fibrous and slightly chewy texture. This really shows that the Dubai Chocolate is a trend setter and has truly become a sweet inspiration.
Speaking of the influential, inspirational, and trendy Dubai Chocolate, it has even branched out and gained multiple variations. Dubai Chocolate has gotten its own strawberry cup, known as the “Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup,” which is a best seller at two different popular franchises, which are Cafe Zupas and La Michoacana. The Dubai strawberry cup is composed of a cup of strawberries with chocolate and pistachio cream, then sprinkled with kataifi and pistachios. Interviewed students made comments saying, “The Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup sounds really good, and the strawberries add a fresh flavor to the mix.” Another said, “I’ve tried the chocolate bars, I can’t wait to try the Strawberry Cup.” The enthusiasm over the addition to the Dubai flavor really changes the game.
Then we have another version in the midst of all the chaos. This next eatery that has endorsed the Dubai Chocolate trend is a significantly trendy franchise itself that has billions of posts across social media platforms. It has its own song and has many controversies that stir up the food industry pot. That franchise is the renowned American Crumble Cookie. Crumble Cookie added its own versions to the growing plethora of Dubai’s, but of course, in the most controversial way possible, instead of releasing the Dubai chocolate Crumble Cookie, they released a Dubai Chocolate Brownie and a Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake. This has left some mutual fans disappointed. One student said, “They both sound good. I wouldn’t be disappointed.” Another pointed out the genius that was the Dubai Brownie, saying, “But the Dubai Brownie sounds really good. Think of a brownie filled with chocolate and pistachio cream sprinkled with pistachios and kataifi.” But one student did have an opposing opinion stating, “their name is literally Crumble Cookie and they didn’t make a Dubai Crumble Cookie.” sharing a disappointed take on the release
Why Crumble Cookie, Labubu? Online TikTok creators quickly jumped on the Dubai chocolate craze by making their own versions of the Dubai chocolate cookie, often calling them Crumble Cookie Labubu Dubai cookies. Their creative videos led many followers to believe that Crumble Cookie was actually releasing an official Dubai chocolate cookie, but that never happened. This mix-up highlights how TikTok blends different food trends like Crumble Cookie, Labubu, and Dubai chocolate into one viral sensation, compressing separate ideas and brands into a single popular moment that spreads quickly across social media.
No matter, the Dubai Chocolate’s trendiness stays on top and is still receiving remix recipes like the new Fall Apple Cups, which are a new fall-time edition to the Cafe Zupas menu. This just shows the great mark that Dubai Chocolate has left on food culture. The Dubai Chocolate exhibits the new, highly evolving, and always-changing social media market, just oozing creativity, reinvention, and social influence.
While the Dubai Chocolate might be this new dessert pioneer, trendiness can tend to get in the way of true judgment. The important question: Is the Dubai Chocolate really worth the hype? While this question is an open-ended question, our peers’ opinions may not be as open to the Dubai Chocolate hype as we thought. One student said, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but I just don’t think it was that good to get all the attention it got.” Another student said, “It’s just chocolate and pistachio peanut butter, it’s overrated.” But one student’s take seemed to differ: “I tried every version. I think it’s worth the hype. The strawberry cup is my favorite”.
So, is the Dubai chocolate worth the hype? Opinions vary. Some praise its unique flavor and appearance, while others see it as more style than flavor genius. But one thing is clear: the buzz around Dubai chocolate has sparked curiosity and excitement, inspiring dessert lovers to explore new flavors and share their experiences.
If you haven’t tried it yet, maybe it’s time to taste this trendy treat yourself and decide if it lives up to the millions of posts online.