Three ways to indulge in the Dubai chocolate trend at home without breaking the bank
WE are going nuts for pistachio flavours after Dubai chocolate took social media by storm.
The pistachio cream-filled bars have sparked a flurry of food favourites being given the nutty treatment.
6
But you can indulge in the trend at home without breaking the bank.
Here's some ideas for treats to try . . .
TOAST UPGRADE: Jars of pistachio cream are pricey — at least £5 for a small pot — so make your own.
Buy packs of the nuts still in shells and remove the kernels yourself, if you don't mind putting in the effort. Roast the nuts in an oven to deepen the flavour, for around five to ten minutes on a medium heat.
Add a tablespoon of sugar or syrup and blitz with enough double cream to create a smooth and creamy texture.
The cream can be kept for up to a week, in an airtight jar. You can use it drizzled over yoghurt, toast, porridge or pastries for delicious flavour.
KEEP THE DUST: The dust at the bottom of packs of pistachios can also be used, according to Zineb Faress, of Moroccan sweet brand Raphia.
She said: 'Blend it with cream cheese for a savoury spread or stir into coffee for a nutty, Middle Eastern twist.'
DREAM DESSERT: Use pistachio to create easy treats. Try melting 70-per-cent cocoa chocolate (maybe Sainsbury's Stamford Street dark, 75p) in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Then stir in a few handfuls of pistachio kernels, making sure the chocolate thoroughly coats the nuts.
Take off the heat and spoon bite-sized amounts of the mix on to parchment paper. Pop in the fridge until set.
Irish influencer makes homemade Dubai chocolate
Fine-dining chef Dean Harper also recommends folding pistachio paste into whipped cream then alternately layering with crushed biscuits in a dessert glass, for an easy concoction that will impress any guest.
Deal of the day
GIVE your hair a salon-worthy makeover with the Babyliss curl and wave styler, down from £74.99 to £45 at Currys.
SAVE: £29.99
Cheap treat
Asda.
Top swap
6
KEEP your footwear on trend with a pair of these Adidas pink gazelle trainers, £94.99 from Office. Or sprint for savings with this bright pair of pumps, £18 from Tu at Sainsbury's.
PLAY NOW TO WIN £200
6
JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.
Every month we're giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers - whether you're saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.
Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
16 hours ago
- The Independent
Lebanon aims to bring tourists back to its beaches as travel bans finally lift
In a bid to revive Lebanon 's tourism sector, the Tourism Ministry recently hosted a retro-themed event at Beirut 's St. Georges Hotel. Fireworks illuminated the night sky above the Mediterranean Sea, while classic hits from the 1960s and 70s played in the background. The event aimed to evoke the "golden era" before the civil war of 1975, when Lebanon was a prime destination for wealthy tourists from the Gulf, drawn to its beaches, mountains, and vibrant nightlife. The event hopes to promote the upcoming summer season. In the decade after the war, tourists from Gulf countries – and crucially, Saudi Arabia – came back, and so did Lebanon's economy. But by the early 2000s, as the Iran -backed militant group Hezbollah gained power, Lebanon's relations with Gulf countries began to sour. Tourism gradually dried up, starving its economy of billions of dollars in annual spending. Now, after last year's bruising war with Israel, Hezbollah is much weaker and Lebanon's new political leaders sense an opportunity to revitalize the economy once again with help from wealthy neighbors. They aim to disarm Hezbollah and rekindle ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, which in recent years have prohibited their citizens from visiting Lebanon or importing its products. 'Tourism is a big catalyst, and so it's very important that the bans get lifted,' said Laura Khazen Lahoud, the country's tourism minister. On the highway leading to the Beirut airport, once-ubiquitous banners touting Hezbollah's leadership have been replaced with commercial billboards and posters that read 'a new era for Lebanon.' In the center of Beirut, and especially in neighborhoods that hope to attract tourists, political posters are coming down, and police and army patrols are on the rise. There are signs of thawing relations with some Gulf neighbors. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have lifted yearslong travel bans. All eyes are now on Saudi Arabia, a regional political and economic powerhouse, to see if it will follow suit, according to Lahoud and other Lebanese officials. A key sticking point is security, these officials say. Although a ceasefire with Israel has been in place since November, near-daily airstrikes have continued in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Hezbollah over the years had built its political base and powerful military arsenal. As vital as tourism is — it accounted for almost 20% of Lebanon's economy before it tanked in 2019 — the country's leaders say it is just one piece of a larger puzzle they are trying to put back together. Lebanon's agricultural and industrial sectors are in shambles, suffering a major blow in 2021, when Saudi Arabia banned their exports after accusing Hezbollah of smuggling drugs into Riyadh. Years of economic dysfunction have left the country's once-thriving middle class in a state of desperation. The World Bank says poverty nearly tripled in Lebanon over the past decade, affecting close to half its population of nearly 6 million. To make matters worse, inflation is soaring, with the Lebanese pound losing 90% of its value, and many families lost their savings when banks collapsed. Tourism is seen by Lebanon's leaders as the best way to kickstart the reconciliation needed with Gulf countries -- and only then can they move on to exports and other economic growth opportunities. 'It's the thing that makes most sense, because that's all Lebanon can sell now,' said Sami Zoughaib, research manager at The Policy Initiative, a Beirut-based think tank. With summer still weeks away, flights to Lebanon are already packed with expats and locals from countries that overturned their travel bans, and hotels say bookings have been brisk. At the event hosted last month by the tourism ministry, the owner of the St. Georges Hotel, Fady El-Khoury, beamed. The hotel, owned by his father in its heyday, has acutely felt Lebanon's ups and downs over the decades, closing and reopening multiple times because of wars. 'I have a feeling that the country is coming back after 50 years,' he said. On a recent weekend, as people crammed the beaches of the northern city of Batroun, and jet skis whizzed along the Mediterranean, local business people sounded optimistic that the country was on the right path. 'We are happy, and everyone here is happy,' said Jad Nasr, co-owner of a private beach club. 'After years of being boycotted by the Arabs and our brothers in the Gulf, we expect this year for us to always be full.' Still, tourism is not a panacea for Lebanon's economy, which for decades has suffered from rampant corruption and waste. Lebanon has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for years over a recovery plan that would include billions in loans and require the country to combat corruption, restructure its banks, and bring improvements to a range of public services, including electricity and water. Without those and other reforms, Lebanon's wealthy neighbors will lack confidence to invest there, experts said. A tourism boom alone would serve as a 'morphine shot that would only temporarily ease the pain" rather than stop the deepening poverty in Lebanon, Zoughaib said. The tourism minister, Lahoud, agreed, saying a long-term process has only just begun. "But we're talking about subjects we never talked about before,' she said. 'And I think the whole country has realized that war doesn't serve anyone, and that we really need our economy to be back and flourish again.'
Daily Mail
19 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Our wine expert reveals the best red wines for Father's Day, from £8.50
Father's Day calls for a proper get-together, delicious food and a good bottle or two, so here I've lined up four brilliant reds for different kinds of dad: a smooth, food-friendly Tuscan for the classic ones; a chillable red in a jazzy bottle for the trendy type; a lesser-known French for the laid-back gent and a top-tier pour for the sophisticated sort who knows – or likes to think he knows – his stuff. Villa Cafaggio Chianti Classico Tuscany 2022 (13%), £15, Waitrose. Classic Dad will love this Sangiovese, which punches well above its price tag. With dark cherry, rosemary and Mediterranean herbs, it's a great match for smoky meats. £16.00 Shop Al Fresco Red 2024 (11%), £8.50, Co-op. This chillable light red is just the thing for Trendy Dad, right down to its AI- generated label. The drink itself, made by a UK Master of Wine, is all fun, flair and red fruit. £8.50 Shop Taste the Difference Discovery Collection Marselan 2023 (13%), £9.50, Sainsbury's. For Laid-back Dad, Marselan is an unusual cross between Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, with dark plum, blackberry and savoury depth. £9.50 Shop
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
State Dept says current US visas from travel ban countries will not be revoked
The State Department instructed U.S. embassies and consulates on Friday not to revoke visas previously issued to people from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries now under President Donald Trump's new travel ban, which goes into effect next week. In a cable sent to all U.S. diplomatic missions, the department said 'no action should be taken for issued visas which have already left the consular section' and that 'no visas issued prior to the effective date should be revoked pursuant to this proclamation.' However, visa applicants from affected countries whose applications have been approved but have not yet received their visas will be denied, according to the cable, which was signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. And, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting on Monday. Still, the cable, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, suggests there should be no issue for current visa holders from the affected countries entering the United States after the restrictions take effect on June 9 at midnight ET. During Trump's first term, a hastily written executive order ordering the denial of entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries created chaos at numerous airports and other ports of entry, prompting successful legal challenges and major revisions to the policy. The new proclamation, which Trump signed on Wednesday, appears designed to beat any court challenge by focusing on the visa application process. Rubio's cable says the only people who should be denied entry into the U.S. are those currently outside the United States who do not have a valid visa on the effective date. Despite Rubio's cable, physically entering the United States at a port of entry is not controlled by the State Department. It is up to the Department of Homeland Security and the discretion of individual Customs and Border Patrol agents to determine if a visa holder is admitted or turned away. The visa ban applies to people from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Other visa restrictions will apply to people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some exceptions apply only for specific countries, like Afghanistan. Others are for most of the countries on the list, or are more general and unclear, like the policies for foreign visitors planning to come to the U.S. for the 2026 Word Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, two of the events Trump has said he is excited to host. Rubio's cable said criteria for the exemptions under a national security waiver would be issued soon.
