BULLARD, Texas — Did you know the internet's most viral candy products can be found in East Texas? Tiffenii Mumphrey, owner of Tiffenii’s Cakery & Pastries, is selling homemade Dubai chocolate bars by the hundreds!
Mumphrey can be found in her Bullard home kitchen, doing what she loves.
"I’ve been baking all my life, it’s just a labor of love for me," Mumphrey said.
And although she's always loved it, she never thought full-time baking would be her career.
"I told my husband, I want to try this, and you know this would be a wonderful side job, because at that time I was teaching," Mumphrey said.
Now after more than two years as a full-time business owner and baker, what helps her stay in the know of baking trends is actually a popular social media app.
"I admittedly am semi-addicted to TikTok. I utilize TikTok for a lot of ideas so that I can stay up to date on what’s trending in the baking world," Mumphrey said.
Recently she’s been seeing one common trend that piqued her interest, the Dubai chocolate bars. She wanted to give it a try but discovered a small road bump when rounding up her list of ingredients.
"I looked around and we didn’t have any of the authentic materials or the ingredients that the Dubai bars are made of. And one thing I wanted to do was stay true to the authentic ingredients," Mumphrey said.
Dubai chocolates are hand-painted with splatter marks on the outside, but on the inside, the filling is packed with pistachios and knafeh, a Middle Eastern dessert made with sweet and buttery phyllo pastry strands, according to People Magazine. The dessert has gone viral on TikTok ever since the treat from the Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai was seen on the social media platform.
Sourcing authentic ingredients from the Dallas-Fort Worth area is what she started doing, which she said has definitely been worth it. Making them just about every day of the week now, Tiffenii says they’ve quickly become one of her most popular items.
"They went crazy. We actually did not have enough product on hand to accommodate everyone who wanted one," she said. "So we said, ‘we think we have something here!’ And so the next time we traveled to DFW, we made a larger order. We have been making these since the end of May -- probably about 1,500 (or) maybe more than that. I’m probably low-balling myself!”
She’s made thousands of the unique bars, which lead to the idea of a few other treats based off the viral chocolate.
"The Dubai brownie, and Dubai cake slices, and soon to come we’ll have the Dubai cookies," Mumphrey said.
For those who are not a fan of chocolate, Mumphrey said they have something for everyone.
Those wanting to get their hands on these sweet treats can find them every week on Wednesday outside of the H-Tea-O in Tyler (1325 East 5th St.) or contact her on Facebook, Tiffenii’s Cakery & Pastries.