Dubai Pistachio Matcha Canelé

Picture this: a decadent Dubai chocolate bar reimagined as a canelé dessert 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 chocolate shell. 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.

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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.
The pistachio marmalade can be molded into 24 fifteen grams half spheres and be placed in the freezer. Or, piped out straight in canelé molds during the montage.

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 24 rounds. 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

Make 24 1½-inch/4cm crunchy pistachio rounds and freeze.

Canelé Cake Montage

Beat matcha ganache montée to medium-soft peaks. The consistency of the mousse should be similar to a freshly churned ice cream.
Fill each canelé mold 60% full. Next with the small offset spatula, spread matcha mousse up to cover all sides.
Pipe out 15 grams of pistachio marmalade inside each mold or add pistachio frozen inserts.
Top with the pistachio biscuit.
Add a dot of matcha mousse and enclose cakes with the frozen crunchy pistachio interior. Pipe out more mousse around the borders and remove excess filling with the offset spatula.
Top finished canelé cakes with parchment and tray. Flip and freeze overnight.

De-Molding Cake

De-mold frozen Dubai canelé onto a frozen tray. Keep frozen.

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 Canelé Cakes

In order to create the snaps that we are all familiar with, each Dubai canelé 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.