Dubai Pistachio Matcha Cake

Have you ever imagined a dessert that captures Dubai’s penchant for opulence and innovation? Picture this: a decadent chocolate bar reimagined as a cake. It begins with a crunchy white chocolate-pistachio butter base. Above it lies a cloud-soft pistachio sponge. Then comes the showstopper: a silky matcha mousse. Nestled within? A hidden surprise—a gooey pistachio marmalade that oozes seductively. But the magic doesn’t end there. Each slice is meticulously portioned and encased in a glossy thin chocolate shell, transforming the cake into a jewel-like tablet that glimmers like Dubai’s skyline. Crack it open to reveal the symphony of textures within—crunch, cream, sponge, and melt—all harmonizing in one divine bite. This isn’t just dessert; it’s a fusion of Middle Eastern tradition and modern flair, a testament to Dubai’s love for the extraordinary. Ready to indulge? 🍫🌴 Your taste buds will thank you.

Please note that the full access to this content needs a subscription: please sign up.

Divine

This recipe is a protected and only available for paid members. To obtain the full step by step recipe and detailed ingredients list, please sign up.

Preview the recipe

Pistachio Marmalade

Combine sugar and agar-agar; reserve in a deli container. In a saucepan, heat up water along with the heavy cream, honey and pistachio butter. Add the sugar-agar mixture - bring to boil and cook 2 minutes whisking constantly. Add almond extract to taste. Refrigerate overnight.
After a night spent in the refrigerator, the pistachio mixture turns into jelly. Use the immersion blender to transform the jelly into a smooth marmalade. Keep it refrigerated.

Pistachio Biscuit

Preheat fan oven to 330ºF/160ºC. Spread the pistachio batter in the greased rimmed baking tray lined with parchment. It can also be achieved using 2 baking pans.
Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely. Refrigerate or freeze pistachio sponge overnight before de-molding.
Run a small offset spatula around the edges of the pan. Flip, de-mold and trim the sponge.
Cut into a 8-inch/20cm diameter disk for a 8.5-inch/21.5cm cake ring. Save biscuit scraps to make Matcha Cups.

Matcha Mousse

Soak gelatin in cold water to soften; drain and set aside. In a saucepan, bring to a quick boil heavy cream, milk and whisk in the tea matcha. Remove from the heat.
In a narrow and tall container, add the chopped white chocolate. Pour in the hot matcha liquid and let sit for a couple of minutes. Mix using an immersion blender. Add the soften gelatin and the remaining chilled heavy cream. Mix well and refrigerate matcha ganache montée overnight.
Mix using an immersion blender. Add the soften gelatin and the remaining chilled heavy cream. Mix well and refrigerate matcha ganache montée overnight before whipping it.

Crunchy Pistachio Interior

Follow the recipe as directed.

Pistachio Insert

Make two 8-inch/20cm and 0.80-inch/2cm thick rounds.
Add the pistachio biscuit on top; and freeze.

Dubai Cake Montage

This cake is built upside down. In order to hermetically seal the bottom of a cake ring, moisturize the outer contour with a wet sponge. Seal the bottom cake ring tightly with plastic resembling to an African drum.
Beat matcha ganache montée to medium-soft peaks. The consistency of the mousse should be similar to a freshly churned ice cream; not overworked otherwise the mousse wont spread out accordingly.
Fill cake ring ½ full, and pipe out more mousse around the borders. Then smooth out the edges with the back of a tablespoon.
Use 350g of pistachio marmalade per cake.
Top with the frozen crunchy-pistachio-biscuit insert (crunchy up), and gently press down.
Smooth out the surface of the finished cake, and place in the freezer overnight.

De-Molding Cake

Remove plastic wrap. Place a taller and narrower device than the cake under the frozen cake.
Warm up cake ring using your hair dryer or kitchen blowtorch. Put the cake back in the freezer for 30 minutes before cutting into serving portions.

Cutting Dubai Cake

Leave cake out for 15 minutes and cut it into 10 or 12 portions. Keep cake slices frozen until ready to glaze them. Do not glaze the whole cake otherwise the shell will break apart when cutting into portions.

Pistachio Brittle

Melt white chocolate to 95ºF/35ºC, and combine with the room temperature pistachio butter. Spread into an 8-inch/20cm disk (use a sheet of plastic acetate or sous-vide bag.
Spread over the toasted crushed pistachios.
Cover brittle with a second plastic sheet and flatten out with the rolling pin, and freeze.
Cut frozen pistachio brittle into an 8-inch/20cm diameter disk. Cut it into 10 or 12 triangles; keep them in the freezer.

Chocolate Enrobage

In a small saucepan, melt cocoa butter alone on low heat. Meanwhile, begin to melt dark chocolate over a bain-marie (the simmering water should not touch the bowl). Pour the melted cocoa butter in the dark chocolate.
Lower the heat, and stir up every so often until the cocoa-butter-chocolate mixture is completely melted.
When the chocolate-cocoa butter mixture reaches 113ºF/45-50ºC max, pass through a sieve. Use chocolate enrobage at 95ºF/35ºC on hard frozen cakes.

Glazing Dubai Cakes

In order to create the snaps that we are all familiar with, each Dubai cake slice is going to be dipped into the chocolate enrobage. To hold the frozen cake slice downward, insert the tip of a bamboo skewer in the back sturdily (do one cake at the time leaving remaining cakes in the freezer). Dip cake in chocolate in the rotating motion. Pull out and hold a few seconds until the chocolate shell begins to set.
Lay onto a plastic acetate, parchment or silicone mat. Once set, pull the bamboo skewer. Repeat until done. Keep glazed cake slices in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let them thaw foe about 4 hours before serving.