Nestle symbol of UAE's sweet tooth

Among the 13 countries in the Middle East, the UAE is the second-largest consumer after Saudi Arabia of Nestle's sweets and confectionary products.

"If we only take the example of Kit Kat chocolate, we sell around 60,000 every day in the UAE, with Dubai taking the lion's share of that figure with 45,000," said Nashwa Ebrahim, Nestle's consumer services executive.

"The Middle East market is growing, mainly because the Arab people in general like sweets and deserts and if you give them a good product they will surely buy it," she added.

The enthusiastic public response speaks of the success of the Sweet Surprises week, part of Dubai Summer Surprises, and highlights the importance of sweets in people's lives.

There are many reasons why people here tend to have a sweet tooth or go weak in the knees when they see a chocolate cake. However, regardless of personal preferences, it is human nature to indulge in something, and almost nothing would be better than sweets.

"We always try to limit how much chocolate or other sweets we eat, but in the end it is something that everyone enjoys. In fact, chocolates are known to boost the morale of people and makes them happy," Ebrahim said.

Sweet lovers also share a passion with those who make them, as chefs pour their heart, patience, passion and inspiration into making the perfect desert.

"You have to cook from the heart and have to have a more artistic hand than a chef working in the hot kitchen. I think you become an expert at what you enjoy most, so you can become a great pastry chef if you enjoy making pastry and to be a good pastry chef you have to be creative and have an artistic side," said Uwe Micheel, president of the Emirates Culinary Guild.

"You have to have an artistic touch, because making deserts needs a lot of finesse," said Andreas Kurfurst, executive chef at the Renaissance Dubai Hotel.