Dubai Chocolate Ice Cream

Pistachio cream ice cream with olive oil kataifi chocolate

This flavor is inspired by the now-iconic Dubai chocolate trend—and it might be one of the best I’ve ever made

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Welcome to Ice Cream Summer!

All season long, I’ll be sharing ice cream recipes I’ve been dying to make—and writing essays on how ice cream as a recurring metaphor in my life. So grab your machine and step into a world of flavor with me. And tell me in the comments: what food trend should I make into ice cream next?

Dubai Chocolate Ice Cream

This global sensation — inspired by Sarah Hamouda’s world famous knafeh chocolate — is one of the best dessert trends of the last 30 years. Like so many people around the world, I’m obsessed. In my homemade version, we swirl an entire jar of pistachio cream into the base and stir olive oil into the melted dark chocolate to soften the frozen chunks. Then we fold in crispy toasted kataifi—and sprinkle more on top to serve. It’s rich, nutty, crisp, and absolutely divine. You can make it with a basic home machine, and I promise it’s every bit as good as what you’ll find in scoop shops across America.

About the Recipe

My home recipe skips the egg yolks. Instead, we build smoothness and body by cooking the milk, cream, and sugar together for four minutes—this bonds the water to the sugar and milk proteins for a beautifully elastic texture. A little cream cheese adds bounce without affecting flavor. I developed this method in 2007 for Food & Wine to help home cooks get as close to a Jeni’s-style texture as possible. Once you try it, you’ll see: it’s easy, delicious, and endlessly customizable.

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Dubai Chocolate Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

Ice Cream Base

2½ cups whole milk
1 Tbsp + 2 tsp cornstarch
2 oz (2 Tbsp) cream cheese, softened
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup cane sugar
2 Tbsp honey
7 oz pistachio cream

Chocolate Kataifi Chunks

½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup kataifi (toasted), divided

PREP

In a small bowl, mix 2 Tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese, salt, and vanilla until smooth.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside for chilling.

COOK

In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and honey.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once simmering, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cornstarch mixture.

Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, just until the mixture thickens and begins to boil.

Remove from heat.

CHILL

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth.

Whisk in the pistachio cream.

Pour into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge in the ice bath.

Let chill for about 30 minutes, adding ice as needed. Strain before freezing.

FREEZE

Freeze according to your ice cream machine’s instructions.

MEANWHILE: Make the Chocolate Kataifi

In 30-second intervals, microwave the chocolate chips and olive oil until melted and smooth.

Stir in 2/3 cup toasted kataifi. Reserve the remaining 1/3 cup for topping.

LAYER

As you remove the ice cream from the machine, spoon it into a storage container (a frozen glass storage dish works great!), layering in soft puddles of the chocolate kataifi mixture.

Repeat, alternating with more ice cream and chocolate, until all is used.

Top with the reserved toasted kataifi.

FINAL FREEZE

Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer for at least 4 hours to develop flavor and body. Scoop with a clean, dry zeroll scoop (my preference because it uses heat from your hand. You do not want to wet the scoop or it’ll make the ice cream icy).

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Enjoy!
What should I make next? Tell me in the comments!

Jeni