About a year ago, I had on my to-make list to do a knafeh-themed dessert, but where there was going to be an egg motif going on, with the kataifi(also called shredded phyllo) being used as like a nest around this knafeh-egg-thing. I never got around to doing it because life happened(i.e. my now ex-workplace started forcing me to work 12 to 14-hour work days and I literally had no time to do anything I wanted until I finally got settled in to a new job where hopefully that will never happen again), but what re-ignited my interest in attempting this was seeing the viral Dubai Chocolate bar. The chocolate bar consisted of a mixture of pistachio cream folded in with toasted kataifi(shredded filo) and then stuffed into a dark chocolate shell to form your chocolate bar. I saw about 10 different videos of people making these, and then realized that this would be the perfect concept to bring back that knafeh egg idea with! The knafeh egg was going to use pistachio, rose, cheese, and kataifi, but in this case, we are swapping out the rose and cheese with chocolate, and it still is a very similar format to what I initially had in mind. Hilariously, a lot of people were calling this kataifi and pistachio paste-filled chocolate bar a knafeh-flavored chocolate bar, which is not necessarily true, since knafeh is more about the rose syrup and the cheese than it is just about the pistachio and kataifi, but I can see where the knafeh influences come from. That being said, this was still a great launching point for a fun take on the viral chocolate bar recipe!

In terms of components, we have a homemade pistachio cream, which will be the molten core inside of the egg, but also used to flavor the kataifi filling, the aforementioned kataifi-pistachio cream filling, a chocolate shell, and a kataifi nest with pistachio. If you are using premade pistachio cream, this recipe comes out to be maybe 7 ingredients in total, which is unshockingly on the lower end for a recipe on my blog! In terms of timing and execution, the pistachio cream is the first thing I recommend tackling, since it will need to be made to use for the filling, as well as a portion of it will need to be frozen so that it can become a molten core in the middle of the filling. The filling itself, once frozen solid, then needs a coating of chocolate. If I had to change one thing, I would have painted the interior of the silicone molds with chocolate, then put the kataifi filling inside, kind of like how the chocolate bars were made. I wanted to do a dipped glaze because I thought it would be easier to execute, but truthfully, it was a mess and it looked clumsy. That being said, the actual egg itself tasted delicious, and I totally get why this recipe went viral. There are all kinds of crispy, crunchy textures, there is creamy, sweet, buttery, salty, flavors from the pistachio and kataifi, and then bitter from the chocolate, so it all works together very well.

For the pistachio cream:
4oz pistachios
4oz whole warm milk
4oz white chocolate
2oz unsalted butter
a pinch of salt

In a blender, puree the pistachios and milk together until they form a smooth, creamy pistachio milk. Pass through a sieve and heat up the pistachio milk in a pot with the other ingredients on medium heat, stirring until everything is melted together. Pour some of the paste into four 1/2-inch silicone half dome molds and transfer those to the freezer. With the rest, allow it to cool down before using in your filling.

For the pistachio-kataifi filling:
60g kataifi
10g brown butter
50g pistachio cream
a pinch of salt

In a pan, toast the kataifi with brown butter first. Then pour the kataifi into a bowl and mix with the other ingredients to form your filling.

For initial assembly:
Divide the filling into 4 parts. Press one part of the filling into a silicone egg mold and then add to that two frozen half spheres of the pistachio paste. Then add the rest of the filling on top. Repeat with the second set of filling parts and the pistachio paste. Freeze the molds solid, at least 2 hours, before attempting to unmold.

For the chocolate shell:
6oz dark chocolate
.1oz freeze-dried cocoa butter
a pinch of salt
crushed pistachios

Melt 5oz of the dark chocolate completely in a double boiler. Take the chocolate off heat and stir in the remaining chocolate first, then once that is fully melted, mix in the cocoa butter and salt. Skewer the still-frozen pistachio-katafi eggs with a fork and dip them into the chocolate, allowing any excess to drip off. Sprinkle pistachios in top to finish.

For the toasted kataifi-pistachio nests:
20g kataifi dough
5g brown butter
1g crushed pistachios

Toss the kataifi with the butter and form into two nests. Sprinkle the pistachios on top. Bake the pastry at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the nests to fully cool before attempting to use.