Celebrity chef Matt Preston reveals how to get the viral Dubai chocolate much cheaper as retailers sell a small bar for up to $29

Celebrity chef Matt Preston has recreated a TikTok viral dessert for a fraction of the price.

The cooking connoisseur, 63, who rose to fame as a judge on MasterChef Australia, took to Instagram on Wednesday to share his version of Dubai chocolate, a sweet treat that is trending on social media. 

The indulgent dish, which is, in simple terms, a chocolate bar wrapped around a crispy pistachio filling, was dreamed up by Dubai local and Fix Dessert Chocolatier’s Sarah Hamouda and costs $29 – and that’s without the expensive delivery fee. 

However, Matt has made the delicacy a little easier to nab and a lot cheaper to eat thanks to making his own recipe inspired by the viral chocolate. 

‘We made a heavy brick of Dubai chocolate for same price as two scrawny bars!’ he captioned the clip, which has amassed 33.6K views. 

‘Think chunky chocolate, loads more crispy filling. It’s like Dubai Chocolate got jacked and swole,’ he humorously added.

Celebrity chef Matt Preston (pictured) has recreated a TikTok viral dessert for a fraction of the price 

The indulgent dish, which is, in simple terms, a chocolate bar wrapped around a crispy pistachio filling, was dreamed up by Dubai local and Fix Dessert Chocolatier’s Sarah Hamouda and costs $29 – and that’s without the expensive delivery fee

Matt explained that he did pay $25 for a jar of pistachio paste but said it would be even less pricey to make his own version. 

‘In retrospect, it would have been cheaper to grind my own paste, which would have been a bit of palaver, but also would have pretty much halved the cost’ he told Delicious. 

He also ordered some silicone chocolate moulds to set his bars which he said ‘only cost a few bucks’. 

Once he had all his ingredients, the bar he ended with cost $40 to make – but it also weighed a whopping 500 grams – which is half a kilo, about twice the size of many on the market, including the viral Fix Dessert Chocolatier bar which weighs 200 grams.

If that was still too expensive, Matt suggested using a cheaper nut paste – such as walnuts or hazelnuts, ending up with a bar that costs $20 per 500 grams. 

Few foods in recent memory have caused such a global stir as the renowned Dubai chocolate bar.

The delectable treat, which found fame on social media last year, contains a mix of pistachio and crispy kataifi pastry known as ‘angel hair’.

Also known as ‘Can’t Get Knafeh Of It’, it was created by Sarah Hamouda as a new way to satiate her pregnancy cravings.

The delectable treat, which found fame on social media last year, contains a mix of pistachio and crispy kataifi pastry known as ‘angel hair’

Like Willy Wonka’s golden ticket, chocolate fans around the world are clamouring for a taste of the confection, which is in desperately short supply.

In the UK, Lidl and Waitrose are among the supermarkets flogging their own versions of the original creation – prompting long queues and empty shelves.

However, it appears this exclusivity is leading to a chocolate black market, as manufacturers are producing cheap and dangerous knock-offs.

According to an investigation in Germany, Dubai chocolate bars imported from the Middle East are filled with nasty additives and contaminants.

This includes palm oil, green food dyes, toxins produced by moulds and even chemical compounds thought to be carcinogenic.

The investigation was conducted by Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office (CVUA) Stuttgart, an office in Baden-Württemberg focusing on food safety.

Following Can’t Get Knafeh Of It’s viral attention last year, the experts tested eight imported samples of copycat Dubai chocolate – five from the UAE and three from Turkey.

As well as ground pistachio and kataifi, the Dubai chocolate bar’s filling contains tahini, a smooth paste made from ground sesame seeds.

But the investigation found traces of palm oil – a cheap and accessible oil high in saturated fat, which has long been linked with health issues like heart disease.