Cake Al Taybyn: A Taste of Emirati Childhood
Customers of Cake Al Taybyn, an Emirati cake shop, wait for the chance to find and grab a box of its delicious cakes in Dubai. Although this cake shop does not have any outlet in Dubai yet, it can be found in many food festivals and markets that often take place in Dubai. At the moment, the shop’s stall can be found at the #MiamiFoodFestival taking place in City Walk’s green planet parking lot from February 15th till March 25th.
“Because we do not have a shop here in Dubai, our customers wait for us in food festivals so that they can come and grab a box of their favorite cakes,” said Marwan Mohammed, the shop owner.
Cake al Taybyn is participating in this food festival’s edition for the second year in a row. The owner says that he likes it here, and the vibes are really nice, “but the problem is that people usually go for fast food and not to local entrepreneurs that sell cake.”
Marwan Mohammed founded Cake Al Taybyn in 2016, and opened his first three shops in his hometown, Umm al Quwain. Now two other shops will open up next month in Umm Al Quwain.
“Marwan, the owner, is very sweet. He personally communicates with his customers, and that is a really good thing to do to develop one’s business,” said Maryam Ali, one of the shop’s regular customers.
Cake Al Taybyn, literally meaning “The cake of the good old days” in the local slang, is famous for their signature cake. “The cake tastes just like the one I used to buy from the cake truck that moved around our neighborhood,” said Huda Ali, a customer at Cake Al Taybyn.
The signature mini cake is what Marwan started off with, which is basically a sponge cake with a bit of cream and jam in the middle. “I love the signature cake, my children and I never have enough of it, it tastes like the original Swiss roll, but even better,” said Alia Abdulla.
Now, Marwan started with other flavors of the same cake, but added a twist of modern day food, like, Nutella, red velvet, and others. “It’s a fusion of the past and present,” he said. Even though he added those flavors, the signature one remains the best seller at the food festival.
If you want to have a bite of this authentic cake, visit their stall at Miami Vibes Festival, open every day from the 15th of February to the 25th of March, from 12pm to 11pm on weekdays, and from 12pm to 12am on weekends.
Photo: by Fatma Kamal Al Yousuf
