The Viral Chocolate Bar
A particular style of chocolate bar has become an international phenomenon over the past year, driven largely by social media. Originating from Dubai’s Fix Dessert Chocolatier, the format typically involves a thick chocolate shell filled with pistachio cream and toasted, shredded knafeh or kataifi pastry. The combination of smooth filling and the crunch from the fine, crispy strands of pastry has created a huge online demand, with similar bars now appearing from chocolatiers worldwide.
The trend is built on texture as much as flavour. Knafeh is a spun pastry common in Middle Eastern, Turkish and Greek desserts, most famously in the cheese-filled sweet of the same name. When baked or fried, its fine threads become exceptionally brittle and crisp, a quality that makes the chocolate bars so distinctive. This particular flavour profile—pistachio and pastry—is now shorthand for a certain kind of online luxury.
A New Look for a Classic
Colin the Caterpillar is, of course, a fixture of British celebrations. The original chocolate sponge roll has become an institution, but also the foundation of a product empire that extends far beyond the cake aisle. Over the years, the core brand has expanded to include sweets, decorations, and miniature versions.
The character now appears on everything from Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes to Colin the Caterpillar Softies, Cola Gums, and even paper plates. While the cake itself has seen seasonal variations for events like Halloween or Christmas, the spin-off products are where the flavour experiments are most common, with items like Cherry Gums and Fruit Sours joining the lineup. A Pistachio Cream Dubai edition would represent a very different direction, moving the cake away from classic party flavours and towards a very current, global food trend.
What the real range looks like
The genuine Colin the Caterpillar range is vast, covering the original M&S cake, Mini Cakes, and an extensive confectionery line including Softies, Cola Gums, Cherry Gums, and Fruit Sours. A Pistachio Cream Dubai Chocolate edition would be a major departure, sitting apart from the traditional sweet-shop flavours of the current spin-offs and introducing a more complex, trend-led profile to the core cake.
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Cake
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Softies
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Speckles
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Cola Gums
- M S Mini Colin the Caterpillar Cakes
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Fruit Gums
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Party Cups
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Party Time
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Sour Stomps
- M S Colin the Caterpillar Cherry Gums
Frequently asked questions
- What is Dubai-style chocolate?
- It’s a viral food trend popularised on social media. The bars are known for their distinctive filling of smooth pistachio cream mixed with shards of crispy, shredded knafeh pastry, all encased in a thick chocolate shell.
- Has Colin the Caterpillar had other special editions?
- Yes, the main cake is often given seasonal makeovers for occasions like Christmas, Easter and Halloween. The wider brand is also very experimental, with a huge range of sweets like Cola Gums, Fruit Sours and Softies.
- Is the Pistachio Cream Dubai Chocolate Colin the Caterpillar cake real?
- No, this is a Snackfish. It’s a mockup from the online creator UK Snack Attack and is not available to buy from M&S or any other retailer.
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You have been Snackfished!
Snackfish :
[sn-a-ck-fish] verb
A snack that lies about its legitimacy as an official product online for internet clout and attention. Most commonly fabricated in Adobe Photoshop or using the unofficial Snackfish AI